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WVW e-mail accounts hacked: Plymouth police given case after school district discovers unauthorized person gained access.KINGSTON, Jan 07, 2009 (The Times Leader - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Someone hacked into several e-mail accounts at Wyoming Valley West School District shortly before Christmas, Superintendent Michael Garzella confirmed Tuesday. The case was turned over to Plymouth police. Garzella said the only thing known for certain is that the hacker gained access through a Verizon account. Verizon is a leading high-speed internet provider, or IP, offering fast Web access over regular phone lines. "We're not quite sure how it happened," Garzella said. "It was by someone who has a Verizon account, so we know it was done from outside of the district system." Even though there was no immediate evidence a student was involved, Garzella said High School Principal David Tosh "made an announcement in school and tried to get the person to come forward," just in case. Plymouth Borough Patrolman Ryan Mahovich said the e-mail accounts of approximately six teachers were broken into, and that police are pursuing several leads. "I believe it's possibly a student, but we have no actual suspects," he said. Police are also tracing the Verizon IP account. There's no indication that the cyber intruder obtained or altered any confidential student information, most of which is stored in a new software system from a company called Skyward. "Skyward was not hacked," Garzella said. "That may have been their ultimate goal, there's no way of knowing, but it wasn't accessed." Skyward was adopted by Valley West and several other local districts in order to comply with new state rules. The state has implemented what it calls the Pennsylvania Information Management System, requiring districts to computerize most student data, including grades, which are typically then made available to parents via a password-protected Web-site. Garzella said one possibility is that someone with access to district computers installed a program on a work station using a portable drive, then used that program via a remote computer to hack into the system. If so, the malicious software would have been removed once the district computer was shut off and rebooted, thanks to "Deep Freeze" software used by the district that automatically eliminates such programs. To see more of The Times Leader, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesleader.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, 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. |