Student hacked university to change grades

Chase Arthur Hughes, 19, a student at a university in Georgia, was arrested for breaching the school”s grading system, announced Fox 5 Atlanta. Between May and September, Hughes used his girlfriend”s internet connection to breach the system.

Kennesaw University uses Owl Express, a grading software that sends emails to professors when changes are made. After one of the professors received a notification for a grade illegally altered, police and school administrators were immediately informed to take action.

“While the system worked as it should and alerted the professors of the grade changes, additional measures have been put into place to help further detect unauthorized access,” said KSU interim Chief Information Officer, Lectra Lawhorne.

Besides changing the grades for himself and four colleagues, he allegedly gained access to confidential documents about university faculty such as employment history, credit and financial and medical records, and stole 36 usernames and passwords.

Kennesaw police are seeking to determine whether Hughes downloaded and stored the data. He was expelled from university and charged with computer trespassing, computer invasion of privacy and computer forgery.

Educational institutions are among the top three targets of cyber criminals.