High school student faces 38 years in prison for hacking a computer

[Liberty City]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4168112.ece

It could be a long time before Omar Khan goes to college: as long as 38 years, according to Orange County prosecutors, who have arrested and charged the 18-year-old student with breaking into his prestigious high school and hacking into computers to change his test grades from Fs to As.

If convicted on all 69 counts, including altering and stealing public records, computer fraud, burglary, identity theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy, Mr Khan could spend almost four decades in prison.

He is currently being held on $50,000 (£25,500) bail and is scheduled to appear in court today.

Mr Khan’s defence lawyer, Carol Lavacol, described her client as “a really nice kid” and said: “There’s a lot more going on than meets the eye.”

Prosecutors claim that between January and May, Mr Khan, who lives in Coto de Caza, one of Orange County’s oldest and most expensive gated communities, repeatedly broke into Tesoro High School, which was made famous by the reality TV series Real Housewives of Orange County.
In an alleged plot that resembles the script to the 1986 high school comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, prosecutors claim that he then used teachers’ passwords to hack into computers and change his test scores. In at least one test, an English exam, Mr Khan had been given an F grade because he was caught cheating.

Prosecutors claim that the teenager, who is alleged to have broken into the school late at night with a stolen master key, also changed the grades of 12 other students, and that he installed spyware on school hard drives that allowed him to access the computers from remote locations.

Tesoro High has 2,800 pupils and often appears in Newsweek magazine’s annual list of best high schools.

Mr Khan’s plan, the prosecution argues, was to get a place at one of the colleges within the University of California system. After his application was rejected, he requested copies of his student records, known as “transcripts” in the US educational system, so he could appeal. But when teachers looked at his files and noticed all the A grades that had magically appeared next to all the courses he had taken they realised something was wrong.

“School administrators alerted law enforcement after noticing a discrepancy in Mr Khan’s grades,” the Orange County District Attorney’s office said. “Subsequent investigation revealed that Mr Khan was in possession of original tests, test questions and answers, and copies of his altered grades. Khan is accused of stealing master copies of tests, some of which were e-mailed to dozens of students.”

The case has once again raised the question of whether technology, in particular mobile phones that can access the internet, has resulted in an epidemic of cheating in the high-school system. The Orange County Register, a local newspaper, asked its readers yesterday to respond to a poll asking if “technology is giving [students] an advantage”, or whether it is just “the same stuff using new tools”.

Another student, Tanvir Singh, also 18, is accused of conspiring with Mr Khan and faces up to three years in prison. The pair allegedly exchanged text messages last month while organising a break-in.

Jim Amormino, of the local sheriff’s department, said that he was astonished by the sophistication of the scheme, especially given the age of the defendants. “I think they [now] wish they would have put their talents into studying,” he said.

[Myst]

Should he be punished? Yeah, but 38 years is a tad excessive... He would've gotten less time for committing murder.

[Bo Jackson]

Sounds like Al Qaeda to me. Lock him up, throw away key.

[Frosty]

Should he be punished? Yeah, but 38 years is a tad excessive... He would've gotten less time for committing murder.

Agreed. 38 fucking years?

"Oh noes, he hacked the system! We must now use American tax dollars to keep you clothed, fed, and adequately facilitated for the next 38 years of your life because of this!"

He'll be fucking 56 years old when he gets out. I'd rather kill myself. And yeah, he probably won't get the full sentence, but still...Maybe the government will hire him for the next Transformers movie.

[chrisvet]

No more than a big catchy title. I predict no more than 3 years if any time whatsover, community service, probation, and some fines.

Now that its made the news, its likely he'll be made an example of. Would be nice if we could follow this one up.

[EVO_9MR]

that's his MAXIMUM sentences if he gets convicted of all those charges. He'll probably only get 2-3 yrs with community service

[thermopyle]

In an alleged plot that resembles the script to the 1986 high school comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, prosecutors claim that he then used teachers’ passwords to hack into computers and change his test scores.

I think they meant War Games. Wrong Matthew Broderick movie.

[Zantutsuken]

I think they meant War Games. Wrong Matthew Broderick movie.

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off he hacks into the school computer to change his missed days, or something along those lines. Been so long since I've seen it.

[dazevas]

He is an example on why the USA rocks.

[Just Spurplin]

Yeah, sounds a lot worse than it is. There are 69 counts here, and when you see things like burglary and identity theft, and add all of them up, of course the maximum sentence will be HUGE. If he's in a gated community, I'm sure his parents will get him an expensive lawyer, and he will MAYBE get a couple years. And, he deserves em.

[Shameless]

Fucking kids these days...how stupid are you to change your F to an A?

Make it a fucking C+ or B-.

[dazevas]

Yeah, sounds a lot worse than it is. There are 69 counts here, and when you see things like burglary and identity theft, and add all of them up, of course the maximum sentence will be HUGE. If he's in a gated community, I'm sure his parents will get him an expensive lawyer, and he will MAYBE get a couple years. And, he deserves em.

Trust me I know kids who had armed robbery and home invasion and they are little criminals and the most they give them just because they were teens was like 2 years in prison.

[OMFG FORUM RAGE]

Fucking kids these days...how stupid are you to change your F to an A?

Make it a fucking C+ or B-.

yeah and just slowly raise F to a D+ the next 4 days turn it to B- and so on, then it wouldn't be so damn suspicious.

[shade]

Slap him on the wrist for breaking in to school.

Suspend him or something for changing grades. Hes going to have a pretty hard time getting in to college now. If he does, he should probably go in to computers.

38 years?? If I got caught doing what I did in high school with computers, those people would give me 1000 years. I never actually changed anyone's grades, but I had the ability to. He is pretty stupid for having to break in physically do accomplish that. I simply made a business card sized CD that autoran when inserted and installed my spyware program someone and I made as a project. It would record ~200 characters at a time and email them to us.

I stopped that shit when I turned 18 though. This was over 10 years ago... "pre-911" if you will.

[Awesome-o]

How the fuck is he failing? He's brilliant!

[RondoAllegro]

You guys are giving him too much credit. Any dipshit with an IQ higher than a doorknob could do this. There's software out there that lets you do this, for fucks sake. Plus he used an administrator's password, that ain't hacking.

All this to appeal to fucking UCs...what a waste...

[Awesome-o]

You guys are giving him too much credit. Any dipshit with an IQ higher than a doorknob could do this. There's software out there that let's you do this, for fucks sake. Plus he used an administrator's password, that ain't hacking.

All this to appeal to fucking UCs...what a waste...

We meant the whole breaking and entering and not getting caught doing the naughty with his teachers.

[david_slupper]

38 years is just overkill. Fucking rapists get much less than that.

[Awesome-o]

38 years is just overkill. Fucking rapists get much less than that.

Redundant :bigwink:

[david_slupper]

Redundant :bigwink:

LOL I just saw it. The word Fuck is a magical word you know.

[k_tull88]

Maik him woRk for teh CIAz!!!111

[Redddragon895]

So, What does this actually solve? Millions of real hackers are afraid now? Seriously give the kid a break, he saw the holes and took a risk. Just put the kid in a school with no networks or no computers....is that even possible? lol.

[Tunes]

Anything more than community service is going too far, He did no real harm.

[Dayve]

First, using passwords to log into password-protected databases is not hacking, it's logging in with a stolen password. There's a world of difference.

Second, 4 decades for this would be absolutely ludicrous, especially if it's a first offense.

Still, it wouldn't surprise me. A black kid goes to jail for 15 years for getting a blowjob from a consenting girl at a party while murderers and rapists go free or get a slap on the wrist... the modern western justice system has been broken for decades.

I'll say one good thing for George Bush... at least he knew what to do with real criminals; send them straight to the gas.

[brainkandy87]

He's not even a good social engineer. But as previously said, a couple of years max and some slaps on the wrist. Although, it will haunt him for the rest of his life. That's always the bad thing about this sort of activity.

[droogsteve]

It could be a long time before Omar Khan goes to college: as long as 38 years, according to Orange County prosecutors, who have arrested and charged the 18-year-old student with breaking into his prestigious high school and hacking into computers to change his test grades from Fs to As.


KHHHAAAAAANNNN!!!! (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qxFQcxy2jFg&feature=related)

[DukeofNoodlenes]

Jesus, that's longer than a rapist. How ridiculous!

The kid is an idiot and needs to be punished but that's just too far!!


Also, you'd think if you were going to commit a crime you'd investigate roughly how long you're looking at should you get caught!!!!

[shade]

You guys are giving him too much credit. Any dipshit with an IQ higher than a doorknob could do this. There's software out there that lets you do this, for fucks sake. Plus he used an administrator's password, that ain't hacking.

All this to appeal to fucking UCs...what a waste...

Depends on how you got the password :)

[chrisvet]

Also, you'd think if you were going to commit a crime you'd investigate roughly how long you're looking at should you get caught!!!!

My guess is he'll get <3 years if any, maximum jail time alloted to charges are completely overrated. Especially when multiple incidents happen of the same crime. Example:

Back @ 18, I beat the shit out of bud who boinked my GF while we were fighting. Someone called the cops when they heard the commotion; I was charged (by the police) for assault, uttering threads, and break & entry (which was simply opening his unlocked door and confronting him in his kitchen.)
Something like 90 years of Maximum charges, buddy stood up for me in court. Result: 1 year probation, $1000.00 voluntary donation, full discharge @ the end of the year.

It was all bullshit & a waste of court time. Boys will be boys, fighting is part of being masculine & young. (no matter what bullshit the societal engineers vomit out)

In the end I dumped the chick, fucked her sister, fucked my buds girlfriend, and found a new GF. I remain friends with rob for over 25 years now. :boink:
Moral of the story: We can't take article headlines like this too seriously.

[DukeofNoodlenes]

My guess is he'll get <3 years if any, maximum jail time alloted to charges are completely overrated. Especially when multiple incidents happen of the same crime. Example:

Back @ 18, I beat the shit out of bud who boinked my GF while we were fighting. Someone called the cops when they heard the commotion; I was charged (by the police) for assault, uttering threads, and break & entry (which was simply opening his unlocked door and confronting him in his kitchen.)
Something like 90 years of Maximum charges, buddy stood up for me in court. Result: 1 year probation, $1000.00 voluntary donation, full discharge @ the end of the year.

It was all bullshit & a waste of court time. Boys will be boys, fighting is part of being masculine & young. (no matter what bullshit the societal engineers vomit out)

In the end I dumped the chick, fucked her sister, fucked my buds girlfriend, and found a new GF. I remain friends with rob for over 25 years now. :boink:
Moral of the story: We can't take article headlines like this too seriously.

Surely the police can't actually sentence you without pressed charges by the victim, and you said he stood up for you, so why did they sentence you? :uhoh:

I just think the kid deserves a slap on the wrist and a threat of prison should he ever attempt this again. I don't think he should ACTUALLY get 38 years. How stupid!

[chrisvet]

Surely the police can't actually sentence you without pressed charges by the victim, and you said he stood up for you, so why did they sentence you? :uhoh:

Its Canada honey. Police do the charging here, victim has nothing to say. :wah:

[Ace Hippie]

He's not going to prison for 38 years - as several people have noted, that's the maximum penalty if found guilty of everything and they're at their absolute harshest in sentencing. The only reason it's mentioned is pretty obvious...

Which of these will sound more interesting as a news story?

1. Kid abuses school computers, almost certainly faces probation or community service, with maybe a year or two in prison

2. Kid abuses school computers, COULD BE IN JAIL FOR 38 !!!! YEARS OMG!!!

Also, I agree with Droogsteve.

[droogsteve]

Surely the police can't actually sentence you without pressed charges by the victim, and you said he stood up for you, so why did they sentence you? :uhoh:


In many jurisdictions, they prosecute regardless of whether the victim wants to or not. This is to prevent the assailant from pressuring or intimidating the victim into dropping charges, which is quite common, especially in domestic violence cases.


BTW, is that your pig in your avatar? I always wanted to get a potbellied pig but was afraid of the commitment.

[chrisvet]

In many jurisdictions, they prosecute regardless of whether the victim wants to or not. This is to prevent the assailant from pressuring or intimidating the victim into dropping charges, which is quite common, especially in domestic violence cases.

Had no idea different areas in the US exercise the same/similar policy, but the DV application is the main root here as well.

BTW, is that your pig in your avatar? I always wanted to get a potbellied pig but was afraid of the commitment.

:lol::lol:

[Just Spurplin]

He's not going to prison for 38 years - as several people have noted, that's the maximum penalty if found guilty of everything and they're at their absolute harshest in sentencing. The only reason it's mentioned is pretty obvious...

Which of these will sound more interesting as a news story?

1. Kid abuses school computers, almost certainly faces probation or community service, with maybe a year or two in prison

2. Kid abuses school computers, COULD BE IN JAIL FOR 38 !!!! YEARS OMG!!!

Exactly. Most of these charges, the minimum sentence is just probation, and the maximum sentence of a couple years is for the extreme cases where its not just some kid changing his grades, but someone working with extreme malice, hoping to harm other people and who shows zero remorse for his actions. There are 69 individual charges, no matter what they are, there is no way in hell you could add those up and have a tiny maximum sentence.