A recent high school graduate in Palm Beach, Fla., pled guilty and agreed to pay $2,025 in restitution, write a letter of apology to the Palm Beach School District and help the district develop a video warning would-be hackers of the consequences of illegally gaining access to computers in a deal reached with prosecutors last week. Nineteen-year old Ryan Duncan was changed with hacking into the district's computer system and stealing an administrator password from a server giving him access to every user profile on the system, the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported last week.
According to district spokesman Nat Harrington, the video will discuss the consequences of inappropriate computer use. The goal is to impress upon young people and other would-be hackers the seriousness of the crime and not just "fun and games," Harrington said.
According to Assistant State Attorney Frank Castor, the state agreed to the deal because Duncan did not use the access to the district's system to cause any mischief such as changing grades or crashing the system.
Absent the plea deal, Duncan's prank which cost the school district $2,000 to clean up could have landed him a 5-year prison term.
