University Student Arrested for hacking computer and changing grades

Hacking your school’s computers is no ordinary feat and it is quite a risky job as well. This we have learned from Chase Arthur Hughes, who attempted to change grades by hacking into his school’s computers and modified his own as well as his four classmates’ grades.

Hughes, Kennesaw State Universitystudent, is believed to have used the internet connection of his girlfriend to conduct the hacking feat. As he was accessing the computers, he changed his grades from B to A and then he changed another classmate’s grade from F to A.

Along with modifying grades, he also allegedly conducted data theft. According to Kennesaw Police, Hughes had used login credentials of professors and managed to access sensitive information and classified information such as credit and medical data of students and professors. Also, he took usernames and passwords of 35 faculty members. Reports suggest that the hacking occurred in summer between May and September 2016.

Fox 5 Atlanta reports that University officials got a hint of this hacking because the university uses Owl Express software, which notifies the class professor through an email if there have been any changes in the grading. The officials informed the police, which immediately tracked down Hughes as the perpetrator of the crime.

Hughes will be tried in court for computer trespassing, computer forgery and computer invasion of privacy. If the allegations are proven in the court, Hughes can receive a sentence of up to 15 years in prison or fine for $50,000.

This is not the first time when a student was caught hacking a computer system of an educational institution. In the past, two from hacked San Dimas High School, California computers to modify grades of themselves and their friends. Both studentsreceived $500 monetary compensationfor improving the scores of various students.

Last year, a 14-year-old student studying at Florida’s Paul R. Smith Middle Schoolmanaged to bypass the school’s computer security network using just his computer skills and gained access to the server that contained FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) data.