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Hacking your way to a better grade

By Ellen Messmer, NetworkWorld.com, 03/23/06

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There are many motivations for hacking, such as thrills or financial gain, but one that's gaining ground is high school kids hacking their way into the databases holding their grades in order to change, say, a "C-" to a "B+". That's what the Palm Beach County School District is struggling with in an investigation reported to be ongoing since December.

According to the the Palm Beach Post in its story today on the Palm Beach Country School District, the superintendant there says he's zeroed in on the students believed to be the culprits behind the online grade changes.

The school superintenent disclosed there will be wide ramifications to these bogus grade upgrades, apparently made by students logging into the district's computer systems with a stolen password.

One impact from all this is that some students' college admissions applications are now at risk. The district has mailed letters to some colleges and universities to tell them the district's grade records could be wrong. Some students face expulsion and other disciplinary action, even criminal punishment as hackers.

The student as insider threat isn't just a problem for Palm Beach. In the Network World story "K-12 schools fight to stymie kid hackers," we found this is a nationwide problem.

As long as some kids find it's easier to hack in to change their bad grades rather than actually do homework, study and score well on exams, the problem will persist. Schools should make it a priority to use strong authentication -- and that isn't re-usable passwords -- to minimize the risk. This would be a substantial technology change for most K-12 schools, but let's look at it as an "educational experience."

It sounds like punishments in the Palm Beach case will be meted out to offenders, based on a computer trail of evidence; but it's a situation no educational institution wants to be in.

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Comments

hey i need to change my grades from a e to an A please help me i'm in 8th grade help me.

Posted by: justin on March 27, 2006 07:47 PM

this website is stupid cause it will never work :)

Posted by: shandra on April 5, 2006 04:47 PM

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