When I was in the 7th grade, I actually hacked a bunch of websites and never got caught. It's been long enough now for the statute of limitations to shield me from prosecution on this point, but I won't go into specifics.
I would like to caution people from implying that an eight grader is incapable of causing havoc on a computer system. The old WinXP at.exe privilege escalation vulnerability gave me SYSTEM access on every computer I visited at school. One of my friends in high school, I recently learned, hacked the domain controller and read the Principal's emails.
Schools are known for their terrible security. Mildly intelligent kids can and will outsmart the system.
In high school, one of my close friends went to a trade school where everything was locked down with a product called Deep Freeze which reset every computer after hours to a snapshot of the OS. The teacher was kind of laid back and said, "I don't care what you do, just don't break Deep Freeze." My friend broke Deep Freeze so he could change the desktop for one student he disliked to tubgirl every morning. Nothing ever happened to him. He was never even reported for disciplinary action.
Then he put a piece of scotch tape on the bottom of another student's mouse, as a prank, and got expelled for vandalism.
This case with the middle schooler reminds me of what happened to my friend: A wholly inappropriate response to basic juvenile mischief.
It also reminds me of what happened to me: I was forced to pay over $9000 in restitution to a security company that had been neglecting to do its job for years, because I forced them to do their job for once. They called it "damages".
This kid does not need to face a felony. Anyone with an ounce of human compassion can see that.
Breaking Deep Freeze was how I spent most of my time in computer classes in high school. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I'm now I'm a productive member of society instead of rotting in a prison.
So too is my friend. I think the majority of people who would have hacked the planet in their youth become productive members of society in absence of law enforcement intervention.
I can't imagine being a kid in school now. I imagine I'd have had a bevy of felonies. My last 3 years of grade school I was suspended and banned from the computers at some point during the year for various accusations of "hacking."
Not a problem in high school since I worked for the school. It worked out much better for the school.
I would like to caution people from implying that an eight grader is incapable of causing havoc on a computer system. The old WinXP at.exe privilege escalation vulnerability gave me SYSTEM access on every computer I visited at school. One of my friends in high school, I recently learned, hacked the domain controller and read the Principal's emails.
Schools are known for their terrible security. Mildly intelligent kids can and will outsmart the system.
In high school, one of my close friends went to a trade school where everything was locked down with a product called Deep Freeze which reset every computer after hours to a snapshot of the OS. The teacher was kind of laid back and said, "I don't care what you do, just don't break Deep Freeze." My friend broke Deep Freeze so he could change the desktop for one student he disliked to tubgirl every morning. Nothing ever happened to him. He was never even reported for disciplinary action.
Then he put a piece of scotch tape on the bottom of another student's mouse, as a prank, and got expelled for vandalism.
This case with the middle schooler reminds me of what happened to my friend: A wholly inappropriate response to basic juvenile mischief.
It also reminds me of what happened to me: I was forced to pay over $9000 in restitution to a security company that had been neglecting to do its job for years, because I forced them to do their job for once. They called it "damages".
This kid does not need to face a felony. Anyone with an ounce of human compassion can see that.