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Students Turn Computers on Administrators -- The Lesson for Educators: Be Sure to Secure Laptops, Hide Passwords

Posted on: Thursday, 11 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

KUTZTOWN, Pa. - They're being called the Kutztown 13 - a group of high schoolers charged with felonies for bypassing security with school-issued laptops, downloading forbidden Internet goodies and using monitoring software to spy on district administrators.

The students, their families and outraged supporters say authorities are overreacting, punishing the kids not for any heinous behavior - no malicious acts are alleged - but rather because they outsmarted the district's technology workers.

The Kutztown Area School District says it reported the students to police only after detentions, suspensions and other punishments failed to deter them from breaking school rules governing computer usage.

In Pennsylvania alone, more than a dozen school districts have reported student misuse of computers to police, and in some cases students have been expelled, according to Jeffrey Tucker, a lawyer for the district.

The students "fully knew it was wrong and they kept doing it," Tucker said.

A hearing is set for Aug. 24 in Berks County juvenile court, where the 13 have been charged with computer trespass, an offense state law defines as altering computer data, programs or software without permission. The youths could face juvenile detention, probation and community service.

As school districts struggle to keep networks secure from students who are often more adept at computers than their elders, technology professionals say the case offers multiple lessons.

School districts often don't secure their computer networks well and students need to be better taught right from wrong, said Jean Armour Polly, author of "Net-mom's Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages."

"The kids basically stumbled through an open rabbit hole and found Wonderland," Polly, a library technology administrator, said of the Kutztown 13.

The trouble began last fall after the district issued some 600 Apple iBook laptops to every student. The computers were loaded with a filtering program that limited Internet access. They also had software that let administrators see what students were viewing.

But those barriers were easily cleared: The password that allowed students to reconfigure computers and obtain unrestricted Internet access was taped to the back of the computers.

Using that password, the students began downloading forbidden programs. Some students also turned off the remote monitoring function used it to view administrators' own computer screens.

The administrative password on some laptops was subsequently changed, but some students decrypted it.

Pradeep Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon University's engineering department and director of the school's cybersecurity program, said IT staff at schools are often poorly trained, making it easy to foil security.

John Shrawder, 15, one of the Kutztown 13, fears a felony conviction could hurt his college and job prospects.

"There are a lot of adults who go 10 miles over the speed limit or don't come to a complete stop at a stop sign. They know it's not right, but they expect a fine," not a felony offense, he said.

On the Web

Students' site: http://www.cutusabreak.org

Kutztown Area School District's response: http://www.kasd.org/ districtinfo/kasdPressrelease.htm

Source: Commercial Appeal, The

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