3 Palos Verdes High students arrested in grade-tampering plot
18 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Three Palos Verdes High School juniors were arrested Thursday on suspicion of breaking into classrooms, hacking into four teachers' computers and changing their grades online, police said.
The teens, who were taken into custody on suspicion of burglary, also repeatedly broke into classrooms late at night on the Palos Verdes Estates campus to steal hard copies of tests from teachers' desks. They figured out the answers and sold them and the actual exams to classmates before the tests were given, Palos Verdes Estates police Sgt. Steve Barber said.
Teachers apparently were unaware their computers had been hacked and grades changed until a few weeks ago, when a student brought the scandal to the attention of administrators, and teachers noticed discrepancies in their bookkeeping.
"They were very bright kids," Principal Nick Stephany said. "They were in AP and honors classes. Am I shocked? Yeah. Definitely by the extent of it. None of these kids had any real trouble
before."
The alleged grade-tampering crimes began several months ago, when the three students allegedly picked the lock to a janitors' office late at night when school was closed, Barber said.
The teens pilfered a master key, used it to enter several classrooms, removed hard copies of tests from teachers' drawers and tampered with the computers, Barber said.
"They were pretty smart," Barber said. "They knew exactly what to do with the computers."
The teens attached devices called "keyloggers" to the USB connectors on the computers. Like skimming devices attached to automated teller machines that steal customer information at banks, the keylogger recorded teachers' user names and passwords as they typed on their keyboards.
The students later retrieved the keyloggers during later break-ins and used the recorded information to access the Edline online system from home to make minor changes to their test scores, police said.
"The scores wouldn't go up a whole lot, but enough to change their grade," Barber said. "They didn't want to make it real apparent something was going on."
"All their grades magically came out to 90," the lowest total for an A, he said.
Besides the three students arrested, two others also had grade changes, Stephany said. Grades for two of the students had been altered in one class. Three had multiple grades changes in multiple classes.
Up to 12 students might be implicated in grade-tampering or for receiving stolen tests, the principal said.
"I hope this is the extent of it," Stephany said. "From everything we are seeing, the same names keep coming up again and again. No new names are coming forward."
Police said the teens broke into classrooms numerous times, possibly as many as 20, to steal tests. Although keyloggers were removed from the initial targeted computers, three more teachers found the devices attached to their computers on Wednesday, an indication the grade-tampering was about to expand, Stephany said.
Keyloggers look like 2-inch flash drives.
Teachers who also keep handwritten grade books quickly began verifying the online transcripts for all of the campus' 1,700 students.
"We're making sure everybody is being looked at," the principal said. "We don't believe it affects everybody. These three kids had mostly common teachers, so most of our efforts are focused there. We are being extra careful, extra vigilant about this."
Stephany said school locks now must be changed and security tightened on district computer networks. Teachers have been advised to change passwords on their school computer accounts, but also on any personal bank and other accounts they might have accessed from their desks.
"No teacher did anything that contributed to this," he said. "There wasn't a negligent teacher or a lazy attitude that allowed students to do this. They came in the dead of night and put things on these teachers' computers."
Stephany said he did not believe the students deserve any credit for an elaborate crime. Two already have been recommended for expulsion. Other students were suspended for receiving stolen tests and information.
"This wasn't a very cunning crime. They didn't outsmart everybody," he said. "These kids would have been going to a very good college without any academic dishonesty. That's the sad part about it."[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.dailybreeze.com/education/ci_19829634[/url]
"Keyloggers look like 2-inch flash drives."
They don't look like flash drives, they are flash drives.
Damn, that snitch really fucked them.
They must've really wanted an A. It seemed like they already had good grades to begin with and were in AP classes, so I don't see why they'd think this was even worth it. Now they're fucked.
I'd never do that but if I were to, I'd raise almost everyone's grades to make it less apparent that it was me.
[quote]"This wasn't a very cunning crime.[/quote]
It kinda was seeing that the teachers didn't notice for weeks.
[QUOTE=Ninja Duck;34418544]I'd never do that but if I were to, I'd raise almost everyone's grades to make it less apparent that it was me.[/QUOTE]
That would be too obvious, they probably tried to make it seem like nothing was even going on at all.
I would expect this sort of thing from someone who needs to cheat just to pass, but these kids? Really? They're already smart cookies, I don't see why they did this. Perhaps just for the lulz?
Why would you even snitch on somebody doing this?
[QUOTE=TestECull;34418680]I would expect this sort of thing from someone who needs to cheat just to pass, but these kids? Really? They're already smart cookies, I don't see why they did this. Perhaps just for the lulz?[/QUOTE]
Even smart kids sometimes do poorly on a test or two, and a test or two can severely affect the grade of a class that doesn't give many grades.
smart fuckers...up to the point they got caught.
snitches are bitches
If they were smart, they would have used RATs.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;34420015]If they were smart, they would have used RATs.[/QUOTE]
Whats that?
fucking snitches
[QUOTE=Sickle;34420044]Whats that?[/QUOTE]
Remote Access Trojan
or
Remote Access Tool
It allows to, well gain access to the affected computer remotely.
Heard about this today in class, we were talking about if it would be this easy in our school (No intentions of doing it). We come to find out all doors are locked after a certain time, teachers have one or two grade books not just the book on the computer and other various things. The time and effort put into this, could have been spent working on their school work.
edit: You don't even have to be really smart to do this nowadays either. With various hackforums keyloggers are as easy to make as facebook account or something its a bunch of clicks and typing in stuff, and they even email logs.
[QUOTE=Dah-thla;34418587]It kinda was seeing that the teachers didn't notice for weeks.[/QUOTE]
Nah, boneheaded move on the students' part. While it may have taken the teachers a bit to notice the issues, as soon as they did the kids were fucked. We had a case like this in the local school district. My dad, being the district's technology administrator, was in charge of discovering who was responsible. He collared the kid within the day.
You always leave a trail with a crime like this, and all it takes to get you busted is somebody who knows how to follow it.
Can't help but side with the kids when we've got a pretty shitty system going on. It sounds like to be they were A students regardless really since they'd barely change their grades. Now I want to do it.
A way to do this without using a keylogger is asking the teacher to show you your average in that class, so they'll have to go into the online grading system and enter in their username and password. You'll have to watch carefully, though. Still, jackass move.
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