[Dataloss] Students accused of hacking Durham Public Schools database

[Dissent]

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-799583.cfm

Two Riverside High School students are accused of hacking into the
Durham Public Schools computer database and downloading the Social
Security numbers and personal information of thousands of school
employees, the Durham Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

[...]

DPS official Hester said the school system felt the boys "hadn't done
anything wrong" but contacted the Sheriff's Office out of concern for
the safety of school employees' identity information.

Charles Douglass, executive director of technical services for the
school system, said the hole would have only been accessible to
individuals who already had a password to gain access to the school's
computers, such as students and employees. Firewalls, which are
barriers that prevent outside individuals from gaining access to a
network's protected information, prevent the possibility of other
hackers from accessing the data, he added.

Despite Douglass' claim and the fact that Douglass and Hester said the
boys only accessed the data through the school's password-protected
computers, Sheriff's deputy Lt. Will Rogers said he believed the boys
accessed some of the information via their home computer, which is
why, he said, the computers were seized.

[...]


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