Students Expelled for Keylogging and Fixing Grades

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robjvargas

Rob J. Vargas
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I debated whether to put this in P&CE. It's a little bit "techie" compared to most other stories there, so... here.

Eleven students in a California High School have been expelled after they were caught "bugging" teachers' computers with keyloggers and using what they found to alter their own grades.

From the story at SC Magazine:

With the help of a private tutor, 28-year-old Timothy Lai, the students were reportedly advised how to attach a keylogger to teachers' computers, as the device logs users keystrokes.

After the stage was set, students were then able to use gleaned credentials to log into the school district's system to change grades and access exams, the [LA] Times article said. Calif. police and school officials began investigating the case of the altered grades last June.

Timothy Lai has disappeared. The students were expelled by a unanimous vote of the school board, and could still face criminal charges. None have been filed so far.

Security software is getting better and better at detecting these keyloggers.

These little devices are usually plugged into keyboard ports (PS/2 or USB) inline with the keyboard itself. They record every key pressed. Most of them have some application on them that then sends the keystroke to some destination, usually via SSH or encrypted SMTP, although other options are also possible.
 
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