Re: Computer Hackers and Schools

[Mary Marguerite Ludwick <ludwick@TENET.EDU>]

Recent postings about obscene messages made me note the following
article from Thursday's paper *The Metrocrest News* (a suburban
newspaper in the Dallas, Texas area):

   Student Prank Swamps Schools' Computer System
                             bu Scott Boyter
   A student at R.L.Turner High School has been charged with
harassing teachers at the school via electronic mail.
  Sgt. V. Gallo with the Carrollton Police Dept. said the 16-year
old student was surfing the Internet about two months ago when
he came across the school's site on the World Wide Web.  The boy
found the e-mail addresses of several teachers and began sending
them obscene and threatening messages.
   "The messages started out as being profane, then later turned
to bizarre quotations that could be described as veiled threats,"
Gallo said.  He said the quotes were taken from Marilyn Manson
songs.  Because the case is still developing, and the alleged
perpetrator is a juvenile, Gallo would not divulge the content
of the messages or the identity of the student.
  The boy apparetnly found an e-mail program that could continually
send an enormous number of messages.  In a two hour period he
was able to send 3,000 messages and shut down the entire district's
e-mail capability......(more)..
   The boy, Gallo said, downloaded information about hacking from
the Internet, and oabtained some other information which he
thought would enable him to send the messages without being caught.
However a call to AOL and Netcom traced the messages to the
boy's home computer.  The boy has admitted to sending the messages
and has been cooperataive.
   The computer was seized and the boy was taken to Carrollton
City Jail for processing.  He ws released into the custody of
his parents.  "He thought he was engaging in some kind of covert
activity taht would bea fun thing to do, and that we wouldn't
find out.  We do have the ability to locate these people." Gallo
said.
  The case will be forwarded to the Dallas Cty. District
Attorney's office.  The boy will be charged with harrassment,
a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in jail
and a $5,000 fine.
--------------

...Enforcement should cut down on hacking  in this community.

Mary Ludwick         Ludwick@tenet.edu