California Teen Arrested for Phishing Teachers to Change Grades

Bet nobody in your high school got in trouble for this: a 16-year-old hacker was arrested in Concord, California for launching a phishing campaign to steal teachers' login data and change grades. The student, whose name was withheld because he's a minor, faces 14 felony counts.

His attack targeted teachers in the Mount Diablo Unified School District, who received emails containing a link that redirected them to a malicious site designed to look like the school's portal, according to Gizmodo. Those who clicked the link were prompted to enter their credentials, which were then recorded on the site. At least one teacher logged in and gave the student everything he needed to access the district's IT network and school's grading system.

Once in the system, he raised or lowered the grades - including his own - of ten- to 15 students. Local law enforcement received reports of the suspicious emails and launched an investigation with help from a Contra Costa County task force and US Secret Service. Officials obtained search warrants for IP addresses linked to the malicious site and traced it to the student's address.

This student isn't the first to try to phish his way to an "A." Others in New Jersey, New York, Alabama, and Louisiana have launched similar campaigns.

Read more details here.