Add as a preferred source on Google

Pennsylvania School District Hacked By Their Own Students

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 10/21/19

Students at a Pennsylvania school district took a senior-year tradition way too far when they hacked into the district’s school systems, accessing test scores and personal information for more than 12,000 students, reported the Washington Post. The breach was first discovered on Oct. 11.

The high school students wanted to win a water-gun fight and were trying to get other students’ home addresses.

The students got “teacher-level access” to systems and then proceeded to use “unethical coding methods” to obtain the addresses in addition to GPAs, SAT scores, phone numbers and other private information about every student in the district. The information wasn’t tampered with but the data could be used for identity theft, a district spokeswoman Jennifer Shealy told the Washington Post. Administrators believe the hacks were not malicious.

Still, Downingtown Area School District considers the breach a crime and is considering whether to press charges on the students.

In addition to staff and students changing their passwords, administrators are updating internal systems to prevent another breach. This was the latest attack on school systems, which can be easy targets for data breaches.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Los Angeles City College Breaks Ground on New Administration, Workforce Building

    Los Angeles City College (LACC) in Los Angeles, Calif., recently broke ground on a new $72-million administrative facility, according to a news release. The Cesar Chavez Administration and Workforce Building will stand four stories, cover 67,230 square feet, and play home to a wide variety of the school’s educational and administrative services.

  • Empowering People Through Smart, Sustainable Campuses

    Sustainability is facing increasing scrutiny, with some questioning its costs and priorities. Yet for universities, it remains an essential driver of resilience, operational efficiency and long-term competitiveness. At the same time, there is a growing recognition that sustainable transformation is not just about reducing energy consumption and emissions to comply with tightening regulations ‒ it’s about creating vibrant, comfortable environments where people can thrive, innovate and connect. For university leadership, this is a complex balancing act, with rising energy costs and limited budgets only adding to the challenge.

  • concentric silhouettes of a human head

    How Physical Space Shapes the Mind: Designing for Better Learning Outcomes

    Research in environmental psychology and neuroscience increasingly suggests that the way a room is designed can influence memory, focus, or even a student's sense of belonging.

  • South Texas K–12 District Debuts Region’s First Electric Bus Fleet

    The Valley View Independent School District in Pharr, Texas, recently announced a partnership with Highland Electric Fleets to launch the district’s—and the region’s—first fleet of all-electric school buses, according to a news release.

Digital Edition