- Dec 27, 2016
- 1,480
In another instance of exploiting info-stealing tools for academic benefits,
A University of Kansas student was expelled from the school after allegedly changing his grades from an "F" to an "A" using information he obtained via a keystroke logger.
In the spring semester, the student plugged the USB thumb drive-sized device into the back of a lecture hall computer and was able to steal the credentials to log into the school grading system, 41 Action News reported.
"This goes beyond the naughty little boy who snuck into his professor's office in the middle of the night and pulled the exam paper out," Aerospace engineering professor Ron Barrett-Gonzalez told the news station. "It's a form of betrayal that goes beyond the norm."
Barrett-Gonzalez said it would have been harder to spot the intrusion if the student had made a more incremental change such as from a "C" to a "C+" or a "C" to a "B." Although the incident happened nearly a year ago, professors weren't notified of the incident until a meeting held two weeks ago.
This is an iteration of the various academic manipulations done in the past such as [1], [2], [3], [4] & [5].
From article 5:
Still, student hackers have pushed some schools to improve security. After Sun’s arrest, Purdue University replaced keyboards in open areas with thin, Apple-made keyboards, making it more difficult to install keystroke loggers, Tally said.
Many colleges and universities should do more, including requiring staff to log in at computers that are off-limits to students, and requiring professors to use two-step authentication -- entering a random password sent to their phones -- before logging in to a system with grades and tests, experts said.
A University of Kansas student was expelled from the school after allegedly changing his grades from an "F" to an "A" using information he obtained via a keystroke logger.
In the spring semester, the student plugged the USB thumb drive-sized device into the back of a lecture hall computer and was able to steal the credentials to log into the school grading system, 41 Action News reported.
"This goes beyond the naughty little boy who snuck into his professor's office in the middle of the night and pulled the exam paper out," Aerospace engineering professor Ron Barrett-Gonzalez told the news station. "It's a form of betrayal that goes beyond the norm."
Barrett-Gonzalez said it would have been harder to spot the intrusion if the student had made a more incremental change such as from a "C" to a "C+" or a "C" to a "B." Although the incident happened nearly a year ago, professors weren't notified of the incident until a meeting held two weeks ago.
This is an iteration of the various academic manipulations done in the past such as [1], [2], [3], [4] & [5].
From article 5:
Still, student hackers have pushed some schools to improve security. After Sun’s arrest, Purdue University replaced keyboards in open areas with thin, Apple-made keyboards, making it more difficult to install keystroke loggers, Tally said.
Many colleges and universities should do more, including requiring staff to log in at computers that are off-limits to students, and requiring professors to use two-step authentication -- entering a random password sent to their phones -- before logging in to a system with grades and tests, experts said.
