A Birmingham University student hacked his way into the school’s computer system to give himself better grades.
Imran Uddin is a 25-year-old bio-science major and was already on his final year at the university when it was discovered that he hacked into the school’s system to alter his grades.
University officials found several hacking gadgets that Uddin is said to have used to get into the school’s network, including “shadowing” devices and keyboard spying equipment.
The bio-science major reportedly sneaked the spying equipment into the school, including the “shadowing” devices that looked like USB memory sticks. These devices, which reportedly costs around $74, records and saves everything a computer user types on the keyboard of the computer where the spying device is connected.
Uddin allegedly used the data recorded by these devices to steal the passwords of university staff, and later on logged on to their accounts to alter his grades.
Uddin’s criminal activities were not discovered until Oct. 7 of last year, when he ran out of luck.
It was in that day that the university started upgrading their computer systems, and while doing so the school staff found the suspicious-looking devices, which prompted them to check all other computers in the university.
They found a total of four of Uddin’s spying equipment.
It is unclear how the university staff were able to arrive at the conclusion that Uddin was behind the spying devices, but further search conducted by police officers at Uddin’s residence revealed that he had been looking for such devices on eBay, which they discovered after carrying out an analysis on his computer.
Judge James Burbridge of the Birmingham Crown Court sentenced Uddin to four months in jail last Thursday, citing that the justice system needs to show some deterrent to prevent criminals from carrying out activities that could undermine the country’s educational system. He told:
“For reasons not entirely clear to me, whether it was monetary, or pride, or a desire to outperform others, you decided to cheat and you formed a settled intention to do that. I consider your actions were planned and persistent.”
“This kind of conduct undermines, or has the potential to undermine, public confidence in the degree system, set up by this university. I have decided I cannot pass a suspended sentence because there needs to be an element of deterrence.”
Uddin’s defense lawyer, on the other hand, claims that his client committed the crime because Uddin felt pressured to do well in school, with him being the first member of his family to have actually gone to a university.
It’s not surprising that people do these kinds of things, but I find it surprising how often they think they can’t get caught. Most of the time these “hackers” don’t do anything to hide their tracks, and then they wind up getting caught and slapped with some pretty serious criminal charges. It obviously doesn’t matter if this student felt pressured to succeed. Cheating is cheating and often results in expulsion. Cheating through hacking a computer results in worse!
I wonder what he planned (or plans) to do with his bio-science degree? There aren’t many reputable firms that would feel comfortable hiring someone who would show such a disregard for rules and standards. He’s not a 16-year-old in high school, who made a mistake (not that I would excuse that, either), but a full grown adult, who was soon to graduate, and embark upon professional employment or further schooling. Many are the first in their families to attend university, yet don’t stoop to such tactics, but rather work harder to succeed on their own merit, rather than cheat to obtain their degrees.