student hacker changes grade

How many of us wanted to do this at one point in our lives (especially after watching War Games). The school is "reviewing security measures", however, the hacker used social engineering to crack passwords...cant stop that without seriously hammering employees.


From CNN

Police: Student hacker gave herself As


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NEWARK, Delaware (AP) -- A university student broke into her school's computer system and gave herself passing grades in three courses, police said.

Darielle Insler, 22, allegedly changed her grades in a math and a science class from Fs to As. She also is accused of changing an incomplete grade to a passing one in an education class.

According to an affidavit filed by Officer Charles J. Wilson, Insler called human resources employees at the school and requested a new password for each instructor, then logged into the system.

Insler also gained access to the system by guessing another teacher's password, according to court documents.

Insler is charged with multiple counts of identity theft, criminal impersonation, unauthorized access of a computer system and misuse of information on a computer system.

She is free on dlrs 5,500 bail awaiting trial in Delaware Superior Court.

Insler, a third-year student from Leonia, New Jersey, declined to comment Monday.

Cynthia Cummings, an associate vice president at the school, said security measures are being reviewed.

I say if she's smart enough to get it, then she deserves the grades. We used to have a policy in some of my classes -- the person who let you cheat, or didn't prevent you from cheating, got punished. So if I sneaked a peak at my neighbor's paper, they got in trouble. Same should apply here.

wow...

something doesnt quite add up with that policy, but i guess in a real world enviroment it makes sense...

Smart enough to change the grades, but not smart enough to get caught - I think she should get punished, or its carte blanche for the rest of the school to hack their grades (although you are right that the school should bear some of the responsibility).

Actually, now that i am thinking about it, im kinda tossed up about the subject...

I can't believe this actually made the papers. The scarry part is how many charges they are hitting her with. Multiple counts of 4 different charges is insane. And she didn't even do anything but social engineer a password out of a teacher or someone....

pretty funny stuff... i like the fact that she is a "hacker" and they make it sound like it is a hardcore sense of the word

At my school one teacher just wrote the pasword on the blackboard when someone asked for it (as a joke), because he tought we were to stupid to use it. I now think we were smart enough to not use it.

Sounds like a cracker to me. I don't think she should get as hammered as she is. After all, it's not like she's getting into NASA's computers, or even the WOPR :D But, I hardly ever agree with the punishments that go with computer crimes. Pretty draconian in my book. But, I'd say they should give her a passing grade in Computer Science...

Holy crap look at all the charges....

When I was in junior high, I used an ink pen to change my math grade. When I was in high school, it had to be done with a typewriter (Can you tell I wasn't good at math?) I was glad no one found out, because my parents would've beat my butt. Now I'm really glad, cause I could still be in jail apparently...sheesh!

Deb :D

Sounds like they are wanting to use this incident as an example to others thinking of doing the same thing. Also seems like they are over reacting due to sheer embarasment over their own inability to keep things secure.

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Originally posted here by neel
At my school one teacher just wrote the pasword on the blackboard when someone asked for it (as a joke), because he tought we were to stupid to use it. I now think we were smart enough to not use it.

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Very good point. I also think that they are being harsh on the charges...but i guess you get what you give.

This is so the schools fault, they should can somebody for letting this happen in the first place or at least change the policy so it won't happen again. when I was in high school you had to have the teacher petition the principle or vice prinicple, and the dedicated slave labor (she did not like me calling her that at all), sort of like the assistent vice principle with a writen request for why the grade was going to be changed and only a few people could alter grades after they'd been entered, the admin didn't even have access to the computer with the grades stored on them. I had to had to go through the procedure because a class didn't get added corectly and it took about 3 weeks for it to be verified and sent through. The only weak link is in the paper work, cause they give scantrons to dedicated slave labor so if you where studious enough to intercept the one with the grades in transit then mabey you could edit it. On another note, changeing an F to an A is jsut bad, she should have at least forged plausible grades like gone from an F to a D+ or C-.

She should move on to something safer, like cooking the books of a global conglomerate!

I have the access to do just that at my school. i.e. I can get to the computer via the school network, but I have no idea how to decrypt the file system that they use. The whole thing is in an IBM OS, and I have never seen it before, so I wouldn't be able to do anything If I wanted to. Oh well, my C grades will just have to stay Cs.

hmm..

Much like myself, i know alot about computers... then you give me some books about stupid languages and i'm like ..huh?

so i guess she has a point. but power to the people....i think.

I don't think that the grades should remain at passing... And it still was illegal. I'm in favor of a 'scare em into legal security consulting' round of penalties and/or suspended/probationary items.

Everyone is missing the point. This girl did something very wrong here. People who fancy themselves as hackers think that it is their right to break into a system because the people running it didn't make it secure enough. That is the craziest position there is.

This girl deserves to be charged with what she was charged with. First, it was ILLEGAL for her to access a system that she did not have a right to access, regardless of how easy it was. The data had her name associated with it, but she did not own the data. And on top of it she was CHEATING her way through school.

This girl is a loser in every sense of the word. Not only did she flunk out of school she got caught breaking the law. She is where she is because she didn't work hard enough to be a success.

Flame away!

Why doesn't she act more mature and just earn the grades. She is clearly capable if she can hack the system to concentrate enough to do good in school. I think it'd be an accomplishment to hack the school but wouldn't try to change grades.

I say life in prison, no parole! I thought thats what the new law said!

I wonder how often a smart kid gets caught doing something stupid like this, and the Barney Fife-ish police chief thinks about hiring that same kid to secure their ****-kicking, backwater systems. Hey...the FBI does it all the time...

Ouroboros

ok with the whole cheating thing well there are many skills you will learn in life one weather you like it or not is cheating.. if your good you will get what you want /if you are caught you get screwed......thats life...she got caught so f###her...

First of all it is alleged that she did it. This does not mean she actually did it. Second if it was her, then the punishment should fit the crime, not make the crime fit the desired punishment.

LMAO.. well i guess this thread will be added to the list of the "help! how do i change my grades at skool?" kiddies.. see.. changin ur grades isnt really that complicated.. u dont need to be uber leet to change ur grades.. tho did it ever occur to that girl that her teachers have HARD COPIES of the grades?? in paper!.. lol

True, only "allegedly", but if we converse under the assumption that the student is innocent, it makes for a lot less of a lively topic. :)

Whenever some kiddie asks me about changing grades, one of my little: "Have you thought about" bits are that teachers will usually notice and will usually check their notes and figure out that you couldn't have passed that class when you only came for the first day of it :p

You'd think organisation would have learned about social ingeneering by now and have verification procedure for changing/resetting passwords...

Ammo

Gosh!!!!!!!................

i can say hes' one good cracker i cant even guess my teachers password, and what are those charges pretty harsh for that guy, as if he had broken into their school financial account i think the problem is in their teachers. like in our school some student can ask some close teacher for a password that can connect them to the school's system

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Originally posted here by Sgear17
i can say hes' one good cracker

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Originally posted here by bombayofpigs
A university student broke into her school's computer system and gave herself passing grades in three courses

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Quote:

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Originally posted here by Sgear17
i cant even guess my teachers password

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Quote:

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Originally posted here by bombayofpigs
Insler called human resources employees at the school and requested a new password for each instructor, then logged into the system.

Insler also gained access to the system by guessing another teacher's password, according to court documents.

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Quote:

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Originally posted here by Sgear17
and what are those charges pretty harsh for that guy, as if he had broken into their school financial account

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Sgear17, Are you replying to the same thread as everyone else?

thanks for all the posts - its kinda cool to take a real world example and have all of your opinions on the subject...