School Rocks In Hacking Scandal

A prestigious school situated on the west side of Vancouver suspended three of its best students from Grade 12 because they allegedly intruded into the school's computer system and downloaded exams. West Point Grey Academy informed parents about the suspension via e-mail on February 23, 2007 and said other disciplinary decisions will follow.

The scandal shook the reputation of the school that the Fraser Institute rates as one of the highest-ranking schools in British Columbia. The school has prohibited its students from interacting with the media.

Clive Austin, headmaster of West Point Grey Academy said he ensured school officials knew about the security breach in January last. Beyond this Austin declined to say anything more. The Vancouver Suns published Austin's statement on February 21, 2007.

The school chose not to report to the police rather it hired a well-known private computer company to analyze the incident and to advise on security upgrades, Austin said. The company would work with the school under a long time contract to ensure that no further security mishaps occurred, said Austin.

While Austin declined to also elaborate on the process by which the students entered the system, the students told The Sun that one of their batch mates planted a keylogger on the teacher's PC. With this they could record all the keystrokes the teacher made on the computer that helped to reveal the password and enabled them to access that system.

In an interview on February 20, 2007 Austin said he was not at liberty to share all the details as the investigation was still in progress. He said school authorities were very concerned about the incident. That called for protecting the school's reputation and maintaining the security and welfare of its students, faculty and other staff.

No student has been punished yet because the time for the right decision has not come, said Austin. There are still no certain indications that the break in was linked to the provincial exam scheduled for January end. Austin believes students did not aim at the exam database, as that was not on the institute's computer system.

Related article: SoCal Computer Hack Traces to Watsonville

» SPAMfighter News - 3/8/2007