Secret Service probes school hackings

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-938126.html?tag=fd_top

By Robert Lemos 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
June 20, 2002, 6:50 PM PT

Students at universities in four states may have been monitored by
"spyware" placed on computers by online criminals to capture passwords
and credit card numbers, a public safety officer at one of the schools
involved, said Thursday.

A month ago, agents with the U.S. Secret Service notified Arizona
State University officials that some of their computers may have been
compromised, said Lt. John Sutton of the university's Department of
Public Safety. The Secret Service seized almost 20 hard drives from
computers at the university and are currently analyzing them for clues
as part of the investigation, he said.

"We are looking to see if some type of software was installed on them
that would allows someone from the keyboard or from a remote location
to identify keystrokes and grab personal information," he said.

The investigation has encompassed compromised computers at
universities in Arizona, Texas, Florida and California, Sutton said.  
It's believed that many of the computers had the software loaded onto
the system by someone sitting at the keyboard, he added.

Agents of the U.S. Secret Service's San Francisco bureau would not
immediately comment on the investigation.

Most of the computers being examined at ASU were located in student
computer labs, Sutton said. The users of the PCs are usually limited
to students, but the rule is not enforced. "It is supposed to be used
for students only, and like any other loosely secured area, it is
possible that someone could come in and use it who is not a student,"  
he said.

It's been known that university systems have long been a haven for
hackers and online vandals. Compromised university systems contributed
to the denial-of-service attacks that struck at well-known e-commerce
sites more than two years ago.



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