Former UCM Students Charged For Computer Hacking

Two ex students of University of Central Missouri (USA) have been accused of a computer compromising plan, as prosecutors claim that the duo intended to sell the identities of over 90,000 students, faculty, and former students.

The pair's Joseph Cam, 26, and Daniel Fowler, 21, crimes came into highlight in December 2009 resulting in their respective detentions. They are now accused of charges namely, conspiracy, scam, computer intrusion, illegitimate interception of electronic communications, and provoked identity theft.

Meanwhile, the indictment claims that during October 2009 - December 2009, the duo utilized Fowler's dorm room as their base of conduction scam operations.

During this time spam, Camp and Fowler created a computer virus that would facilitate them to remotely administer infected systems. They supposedly circulated the computer virus via infected e-mails, infected flash drives or by manually installing the computer virus onto university computers in public areas. Moreover, they even tried to infect the university president's PC.

According to prosecutors, the infected machines were programmed to observe the keystrokes of users and send the details to systems in Fowler's room at the University.

The indictment further highlighted that, utilizing the computer viruses, the duo was able to gain access over a university's administrator username and password, which further facilitated them to turn on the system's webcam to observe the administrator work and to download his personal e-mails and other information.

Besides, they utilized the administrator's information to get control over University databases, which comprised students' personal identity and social security numbers details. Moreover, the pair utilized the system virus to steal username and password of a residence hall director, which they supposedly exploited to transfer money from university accounts to their own personal bank accounts.

The pair also tried to modify their grades, the indictment claims.

Officials at the University of Central Missouri stated that the school warned victims immediately after they discovered that the private information was hacked, as reported by fox4kc on November 22, 2010.

On the other hand, Beth Phillips, U.S. Attorney commended University Officials for rapidly working in late 2009 to stop the duo from benefitting from their supposed plan, as reported by fox4kc on November 22, 2010.

Related article: Former Council Intern Charged with Intruding City E-mail

» SPAMfighter News - 12/2/2010