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Police: School data hacked, grades alteredJan 15, 2009 (Republican & Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Pottsville police anticipate filing charges against one or more computer hackers who unlawfully made changes to an online grading system used by Pottsville Area School District. "You had some people who hacked into a school-functioned, online site and found ways to change data that was put in there," Pottsville police Capt. Ronald J. Moser said Wednesday "In this case, someone figured out a teacher's login and password. It is still a federal offense," said Monica Langenberg, Shawnee, Okla., director of business development for Classroll.com. Classroll.com is an online classroom assessment and instructional management system the school district pays to use, according to Langenberg and Pottsville Area Superintendent James T. Gallagher. Teachers use it to post student grades and attendance records as well as their lesson plans and assignments, leaving students with no excuses for missed work. And parents can log in to check their children's progress. Only teachers, school administrators, parents and students can access the site, Langenberg said. On Wednesday, Steve Guers, the Pottsville police detective in charge of the case, said the district filed the complaint with city police in December. Langenberg said a person not authorized to use the account gained access to student grades posted by Pottsville Area teachers and made changes. "Apparently in this case it went on for a while. I don't know any details beyond that," Langenberg said. "We have a way to track the IP address so we can fully help the school figure out and find out where it's occurring. Our CEO has also been working with the Pottsville school district," Langenberg said. Guers said the incidents were isolated. "With the cooperation of school officials and employees, several suspects as well as all students affected by the actions have been identified," Guers said. The Web site has been secured and is safe and reliable for all users, Guers said. Guers said he intends to file computer trespass and identity theft charges, but did not say when. "Upon the completion of the investigation, further details will be made available," Guers said. Gallagher refused to comment on the case until police have completed their investigation. "As long as the investigation is still ongoing and the police have not taken official action, I'm going to refrain from making any comment at this time. I think it would be inappropriate," Gallagher said. Langenberg said she had heard of similar incidents happening in the past and wasn't sure if this case was unique. High schools across the country have dealt with hackers, according to numerous articles on the Internet. One high-profile case occurred in June 2008 in Orange County, Calif., when two teens were charged with breaking into their school late at night and using stolen login information to hack into its computer system and change their grades, according to TechNewsWorld.com. Omar Khan, 18, a student at Tesoro High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, now faces 34 felony counts of altering a public record, 11 felony counts of stealing and secreting a public record, seven felony counts of computer access and fraud, six felony counts of burglary, four felony counts of identity theft, three felony counts of altering a book of records, two felony counts of receiving stolen property, one felony count of conspiracy and one felony count of attempted altering of a public record. He faces a maximum sentence of 38 years and four months in prison if convicted, according to the site. Tanvir Singh, 18, a student at the same school, is charged with one felony count each of conspiracy, burglary, computer access and fraud, and attempted altering of a public record. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison if convicted, according to TechNewsWorld.com. To see more of the Republican & Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.republicanherald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |