Iowa Student Arrested for Using Keylogger to Change Grades, Osama Bin Laden Files Released
Infosec News
INFORMATION SECURITY NEWS
For The Week of 11/1-11/7 2017
The Information Security News Service is a project of LARS (Laboratory for Advanced Research in Systems) in the CS Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. We send out top stories in information security every Tuesday (except during some academic breaks). If you have stories you’d like to see featured, please email them to infosec...@d.umn.edu.
CURRENT NEWS
Iowa Student Arrested for Using Keylogger to Steal Credentials, Change Grades
Security students beware! We learn all kinds of fun stuff in security class, and there’s quite some temptation to use this stuff against our unsuspecting professors. You would think support this, as it show that we are actually engaging with the material. However, it turns out that professors, administrators, and even gasp law enforcement do not approve of this kind of behavior. One University of Iowa student found this out the hard way. He used a keylogger to capture instructor credentials over a period of over 21 months, changing his and up to five other students’ grades, and stealing some tests along the way. The scheme was eventually noticed and the FBI(!) was called in to help investigate. The student has now been arrested and will likely be charged. Don’t let this be you! Make sure you have permission to conduct “research” into whatever systems you’re messing around with!
CIA releases 321GB of Osama Bin Laden’s Files
In the interest of transparency, the CIA has released a 321GB cache of files taken from Osama Bin Laden’s computers. Some copyrighted files are withheld, but the rest is all there. It’s interesting that some of the copyright files are things like Final Fantasy, as well as several documentaries about Bin Laden. The files are currently unavailable due to technical issues, but will hopefully be back up soon.