http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/12/21/news/coastal/21_38_0212_20_05.txt By: PHILIP K. IRELAND Staff Writer December 20, 2005 CARLSBAD ---- At least five students are suspected of breaking into a computer system last week that houses student records in the San Dieguito Union High School District, a source within the district said Tuesday. Four students at La Costa Canyon High School and one student from Torrey Pines High are suspected of accessing the district's system, changing grades and downloading teacher tests, said a source familiar with the investigation who spoke to the North County Times on condition of anonymity. "They had access to the whole district," the source said. "Everything." At least one student may have sold the tests to other students, the source said. Superintendent Peggy Lynch rejected the claim that student hackers gained access to the entire district that maintains student, parent and employee records. "We don't know that it was the whole network, and I don't believe that's true," Lynch said in a interview Tuesday. "I think everything I know at the moment is that no personal information was compromised ---- names, addresses, phone numbers" and Social Security numbers. Mark Kelly, a detective with the sheriff's Computer and Technology Crime High Tech Response Team leading the investigation, confirmed Monday that he has identified suspects. Kelly said he is investigating the crimes under section 502 of the California Penal Code, which deals with computer crimes such as accessing a system without permission, and knowingly copying, deleting, altering or destroying data. The crimes carry fines of up to $10,000 and three years in jail. Kelly said he was working overtime on the case, but declined to provide additional details or confirm information, saying that he didn't want to jeopardize the investigation. In a memorandum sent to school district staff at La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines high schools, Lynch confirmed the attack. "It is apparent that there has been a breach of our network security by students," she wrote in the memo, obtained Tuesday by the North County Times. "We know that at least one teacher's test (has) been compromised and some student grades may have been altered." The memo instructed teachers to compare paper copies of grades with electronic versions of the same grades as soon as possible. The memo also informed staff that they would be required to change their passwords. "We are taking this very seriously," Lynch wrote. "Law enforcement is involved. The Technology Department is actively taking steps to prevent this type of breach in the future." La Costa Canyon Principal Amy Carlin said Monday that she could not confirm details of the computer breach. _________________________________________ Earn your Master's degree in Information Security ONLINE www.msia.norwich.edu/csi Study IA management practices and the latest infosec issues. Norwich University is an NSA Center of Excellence.
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