One "hacker" expelled; more hearings scheduled

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>

http://www.stoughtonnews.com/news.cfm?num=3471

[ http://lists.insecure.org/lists/isn/2003/May/0007.html  - WK]

Terry Hagerty
Courier Hub Reporter 
May 12, 2003

STOUGHTON -- The Stoughton Board of Education Tuesday night voted 
unanimously to expel a Stoughton High School student for illegally 
gaining entrance to school computers and altering grades and 
attendance records. 

Monday night's expulsion hearing was the first of three separate 
hearings scheduled for this week for the three students alleged to 
have been the main actors in the scheme. The expulsion hearing was 
closed to the press and public. 

Several students have also been suspended in the case, which involves 
as many as 20 students, some of whom reportedly had grades changed 
unbeknownst to them. 

Some students were charged $5 per grade change, according to official 
reports. 

Also, the grade of at least one athlete, who was academically 
ineligible to play sports last fall, had his grade altered in an 
apparent attempt to make him eligible again, although he told 
officials he was not aware of the grade change. 

The accused students used a sophisticated computer program which is 
able to detect the keystrokes used in typing in a password and 
transfer the information to a website, 'ispynow.com', so the 
information could be accessed from a remote site. 

The students were apparently able to use the program undetected and 
leave it in place, as early as last December, even while district 
computers had undergone a security audit in January, Supt. Myron 
Palomba recently said. 

On several occasions, students used school computers, including school 
library computers, to gain access to faculty computers. 

A teacher initially detected that grades of three students in her 
algebra/trigonometry class had been changed on her computer entries. 

A further investigation determined the hackers also had changed 
student grades posted by several other teachers. 

When questioned by district officials, with his parents present, one 
16-year-old student said he and two other students had used a program 
which will log 'everything' a computer does, and then send that 
information to an Internet website. 

The program can capture keystrokes (i.e. passwords), e-mails, instant 
messages and both sides of 'chat conversations' and even credit card 
numbers. 

The computer intrusions cost school officials time and expense by 
having to check computers at all of the district's schools. 

Palomba said the school district is working with Madison’s Inacom 
Information Systems to evaluate and improve the district’s computer 
security system. 

Charges against several students are pending, Police Chief Pat 
O'Connor said early this week. 


 
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