Schools spend big to secure system
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/11/23/s1b_skcomputer_1123.html
Following a security breach by a high school student who hacked into the
Palm Beach County School District's computer system to change grades and
attendance records, more than $1.5 million has been spent to beef up
security of its extensive network.
The district is so confident in its security, it has dared students and hackers to crack
it, offering a free wireless router for anyone who could.
"We had people trying to hack in from China," said Bob LaRocca, the IT
security chief, who gave hackers a specific assignment. "Some days we
got thousands of hits. The prize is still sitting in my office."
Every day, the computer network gets 16,000 attacks. Every week, the
employees receive 100,000 e-mails, and 80 percent of them are spam and
potentially dangerous. Outside schools and district offices, hackers
using devices attempt to capture the data that runs across the
district's network to crack password files. Unlike a decade ago, people
don't have to be computer geeks to become hackers. Online chat rooms and
Web sites give step-by-step directions on how to hack, making it easier
for students or anyone to tap into networks.