Students at a Perth Catholic school had been hacking into an online data portal to check grades and test scores for years before they were detected. Source: The West Australian.
At least four Year 11 boys have been forced out of the Bateman school since then — either withdrawn by their parents after being asked to leave, or formally expelled.
The hacking scandal first came to light in March, when it was revealed a group of students at Corpus Christi College had been caught accessing an online system containing sensitive information such as grades, health records and home addresses.
The West Australian reports the breaches had been going on without the school’s knowledge for at least four years before they were discovered.
A group of boys had regularly gained unauthorised access to the school’s SEQTA system to check their marks on assignments and tests days before they were handed back in class.
It’s understood they first started using a teacher’s user name and password to log in to the system when they were in Year 8 after it was left on a screen for the class to see. And they continued to do so for some time after that teacher had left the school.
When that teacher’s account was eventually closed, a student obtained log-in details from another teacher via email by pretending to be someone in authority.
The breaches only came to light when a student told a parent their marks before they were released, prompting the parent to inform the school.
SEQTA is widely used in many WA schools as a central communication hub for teachers, students and parents.
Catholic Education WA and SEQTA launched an investigation in March which concluded that “a small group of students” had gained unauthorised access to a single system.
“These students were identified and remediation put in place to prevent this incident occurring again,” a CEWA spokesperson said.
FULL STORY
Corpus Christi College data breaches: Shock twist after students caught hacking into online portal (By Bethany Hiatt, The West Australian)
