Teens at more NJ high schools caught hacking grades

ELIZABETH — Officials say several high school students hacked into their schools' computer systems to try and change their grades. Officials say the breaches happened at various schools in the district.

Parents were notified Wednesday about the data breach in the Elizabeth school district.

This is the second time in as many months that high school students in the state have been caught hacking grades. Last month, students in a Jersey City high school were charged with illegally trying to change grades.

Elizabeth schools spokesman Pat Politano says one student gained access to the system by stealing a teacher's password. He says other students accessed attendance records and tried unsuccessfully to change grades.

District Superintendent Olga Hugelmeyer says the consequences for those involved are "likely to be severe." The district says police have notified.

Hugelmeyer declined further comment, citing student privacy laws.

In Jersey City, officials said four students used keylogging software to hack into the school district's computer system.

Keystroke logging, or keylogging, software covertly tracks which keys are struck on a computer keyboard and it is most often used to steal passwords. The Jersey Journal reported that the four Dickinson High School students, ages 15 to 17, allegedly used the software to gain teachers' log-on information, then changed their own grades and potentially the grades of their friends.

Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas says the grades of as many as 10 students were changed. The students were arrested at their school.