Accused hackers allowed back in Bay High classes
Accused hackers allowed back in Bay High classes
Two of the three students accused of hacking into a Bay Countycomputer system and changing grades for friends have since been
allowed back in class, but the third was expelled for one semester.
Beau Brothers, 16, was expelled after three of five county school
board members voted to support the move. Brothers was charged with
offense against intellectual property, a felony, earlier this month.
His alleged cohorts, Jeremiah Mason and Kyle Parkinson, both 16,
served suspensions before returning to school. They are charged with
being a principal to offense against intellectual property, also a
felony.
Brothers committed the crime while Mason and Parkinson "assisted,"
sheriff's investigator Paul Vecker told The News Herald of Panama City
for its Tuesday editions.
The teens reportedly gained access to the system when a teacher
allowed them to use a computer that was linked to the programs storing
grades and school attendance records. The students were not given
passwords to the system, but were able to gain entry anyhow.
Teachers discovered the grade changes when they routinely checked
grade books to make sure they matched report cards. The alleged
hackers were in advanced computer classes and didn't need to change
their own grades because they were good students, school officials
said.
