Boy Hacks School District, Changes Students' Grades: Concord PD

CONCORD, CA — A boy was arrested Wednesday for allegedly changing school grades in the Mount Diablo Unified School District by electronically phishing for information from a teacher, Concord police said. The boy was allegedly able to get a teacher's credentials using a phishing email.

"The hacker then used the teacher’s credentials to log into a school system to change the grades of numerous students," Concord police said.

The investigation began April 25 when Mount Diablo Unified School District notified police of a potential intrusion into their system, police said. It was determined the teacher had unknowingly provided her log-in information when she clicked within a "spear-phishing" email.

Law enforcement personnel with the U.S. Secret Service, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office all assisted in the arrest Wednesday, police said.

A sheriff's K-9 named "Dug" was also on scene. The dog is trained to locate electronic devices and led authorities to a tissue box in which an SD card containing alleged evidence was found, police said.

According to the FBI, spear-phishers "send emails that look like the real thing to targeted victims, offering all sorts of urgent and legitimate-sounding explanations as to why they need your personal data. The victims are asked to click on a link inside the email that takes them to a phony but realistic-looking website, where they are asked to provide passwords, account numbers, user IDs, access codes, PINs, etc."

In this instance, police said the alleged hacker — his name was not released because he is a minor — did not steal any personal identifying information.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Photos courtesy Concord Police Department