Mo. Freshman Crashes School District’s Computer Network

The student will serve a suspension as engineers attempt to restore the district's computer system.
Published: March 9, 2016

A high school freshman in Missouri was suspended after officials say he crashed the school district’s network with a phone app recently.

The 14-year-old student will serve a ten day suspension after his father says he was responsible for the crash of the district’s servers, phone system and computer networks, according to kmbc.com.

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The student allegedly used an app he downloaded for free on his smartphone for the attack. In addition to his suspension, district officials are considering keeping the student out of school for the year.

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Computer engineers have identified the problem on the network, although the district is still dealing with technical problems. The continuing problems may stem from copycat attacks or other people who have infiltrated the computer system.

RELATED: Integrators Identify 10 Critical Cybersecurity Challenges

District officials claim no data or information has been breached and said they will no longer offer free WiFi to the public.

“I think that they probably need to put some more money into cybersecurity, because if they can do this to a school, what other points of this is actually vulnerable?” the student’s father told KMBC. The student’s father also said further punishment would be an overreaction.

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