A spate of incidents involving students hacking their schools’ networks and software programs is again highlighting the weak cybersecurity practices in K-12 education.
From California to New Jersey, teenagers have allegedly improperly accessed student-information systems, online learning programs, and college-counseling software in at least 10 states this school year. Often, their motivation was to change grades. And, typically, the hacks were technically unsophisticated, involving little more than students finding a teacher’s password or login credentials.
K-12 information-technology experts say the scope of the problem reflects an ongoing failure by schools and districts to take even the most basic measures to protect their networks.
“The biggest challenge to maintaining cybersecurity is not technology but people,” said Marie Bjerede, the principal for leadership initiatives at the Consortium for School Networking, a professional association for school technology officials.
The problem of students using computers to alter school records is nothing new. Consider, for example, the popular 1983 movie “War Games,” in which a young hacker played by Matthew Broderick nearly starts World War III—but not before breaking into his school’s network to change his and his girlfriend’s grades.
Thirty-five years later, similar incidents are still presenting challenges for K-12 leaders. Bolstering cybersecurity is one big issue. But figuring out how to appropriately discipline the students responsible has also proved vexing.
K-12 cybersecurity experts suggest that schools take such basic measures to prevent against hacks as:
Train staff on good password practices: No sticky notes. Use long, complex passwords. Don’t repeat passwords across platforms. Consider password-management software.
Require two-factor authentication: Even if a hacker inappropriately obtains a password, he or she won’t be able to access a network without a second piece of information, such as a code sent to the legitimate user’s mobile device.
Be vigilant about ensuring role-based access to information: No one associated with a school should have access to more information than he needs to do his job.
Patch software regularly. Some more sophisticated hackers seek to exploit vulnerabilities in software. That can often be prevented by making sure programs are updated and patched regularly.
In some cases, districts have launched aggressive criminal investigations that have led to felony charges. Often, such prosecutions have occurred under state laws modeled after the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it a crime to access certain computers or computing systems without authorization, said Tor Ekeland, a New York City-based defense lawyer who specializes in representing hackers and white-collar defendants.
That approach is often “overzealous” and often motivated by a desire to save face after weak cybersecurity practices are revealed, Ekeland and other experts say. For all but the most serious breaches involving K-12 students, the experts argue, school-based discipline is likely more appropriate.
“These are just kids,” Ekeland said. “If we prosecuted computer crimes in the 1970s like we do now, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates would have gone to jail, and we wouldn’t have Apple and Microsoft.”
Four student-hacking incidents from this school year represent similar problems across the country.
East Brewton, Ala.
Last month, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the arrests of a student and teacher in the 4,500-student Escambia County district, charging them with the felony of computer tampering for allegedly altering grades at W.S. Neal High School.
Local news reports alleged that senior Matthew Hutchins had improperly accessed a school computer system (later identified as INow, a student-information and data-management system.) Special education teacher Lisa Odom was also arrested and charged with a felony in connection with the incident.
According to WEARTV.com, school officials noticed discrepancies in the grades of a number of students, prompting the district to delay its announcement of top student performers.
In an interview last month with AL.com, Escambia County Superintendent John Knott said that multiple students were involved and that a full review was underway. AL.com has also reported that an assistant principal’s login credentials were used to change grades over a six-month period.
The Escambia County board of education,the Alabama attorney general’s office, and lawyers for Hutchins and Odom did not respond to requests for comment from Education Week.
Both Hutchins and Odom face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
In general, Ekeland, who is not directly involved in the Hutchins’ case, said K-12 administrators should think twice about why they’re pursuing such severe measures.
“The hacker bears some responsibility,” Ekeland said. “But a felony will follow a student for the rest of his life.”
Concord, Calif.
Sixteen-year old David Rotaro told California’s ABC13 Eyewitness News that a grade-changing scheme he executed was “like stealing candy from a baby.”
According to local television station KTVU, Rotaro, a sophomore at Ygnacio Valley High in the 32,000-student Mount Diablo district, executed a relatively sophisticated hack. Rotaro reportedly created a fake website that mirrored his district’s actual website, then sent a “phishing” email out to teachers in the hope that someone would use his or her actual login and password to access his site.
Mount Diablo staff are “routinely advised against opening suspected phishing or spam messages,” a district spokeswoman told Education Week. Still, a teacher bit on one of Rotaro’s messages, allowing the student to access the school’s computer system in order to change the grades of roughly a dozen students.
Rotaro, who told local news outlets he hopes to work in IT as a professional, has been charged with 14 felony counts, according to multiple media reports.
Education Week did not receive a response to messages left on a phone number believed to be associated with the student’s family.
Doug Levin, who tracks K-12 cybersecurity breaches through his consulting firm, Edtech Strategies, said the incident highlights the mixed messages schools are giving students.
“We’re telling kids that tech is the future and learning to code is where all the good jobs are,” Levin said. “It’s not surprising that they would use these tools to test limits, including with the school IT systems they know best.”
Tenafly, N.J.
A senior at high-performing Tenafly High allegedly breached the school’s student-information-management system and a software program used to submit college applications and transcripts, apparently because he felt pressure to improve his profile for Ivy League universities.
The school launched an investigation after a guidance counselor noticed the student’s grades had been altered, according to NorthJersey.com. The student was suspended, and his college applications were rescinded.
The local board of education filed two criminal charges against the student, according to the news outlet. An official said the Tenafly police department could not comment on the incident because it involved a juvenile. The Tenafly district did not respond to a request for comment.
In general, K-12 chief technology officers often underestimate the cybersecurity threats they face and fail to take basic precautions, according to a 2017 survey of school IT leaders administered by CoSN and the Education Week Research Center.
One-third of those surveyed said they hadn’t encouraged district staff to upgrade passwords, for example. Just 11 percent said they required two-factor authentication for district accounts.
But thanks to a steady drumbeat of hacking-related headlines, that could be changing, said Bjerede of CoSN.
“I think that awareness of cybersecurity issues has grown dramatically,” she said.
Gadsden, N.M.
Officials in the 14,000-student Gadsden school district notified parents that 55 students allegedly took part in a grade-changing scheme involving an online course.
The students apparently logged into a teacher account on Edgenuity, an online-course provider and grading platform, and changed a total of 456 grades, according to a statement provided by the district.
Five students were suspended, and the remainder will have to redo their work in the courses in which grades were changed in order to receive credit. Twenty-nine seniors were not eligible to graduate on time as a result of the incident.
The hack came to light because Edgenuity logs and time stamps all activities undertaken on each account on its software. But the issue at hand in Gadsden was poor password practices, a spokesperson for the company said.
Good password security ultimately “comes down to the individual entrusted with the password,” an Edgenuity spokesperson said in a statement.
Recurring problems on that front speak to a larger problem in the K-12 sector, said Levin of EdTech Strategies.
“The adults have to take responsibility, too,” Levin said. “If a 14-year old can penetrate your system this easily, you’re not locking the windows and doors like you should be.”
