[LINK] Student jailbreaking

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/student-hackers-warned-over-government-laptops-20100217-odyz.html


> Student hackers warned over government laptops
>
> THOUSANDS of school students on Facebook and other websites are  
> exchanging tips on how to hack into free government-issued laptops,  
> risking suspension and the privilege to take the computers home.
>
> High school pupils discuss how to skirt the strict internet filters,  
> run games, and the punishment dished out - confiscation, detention  
> and possible suspension.
>
> Before the summer holidays, 48 of the more than 66,000 laptops  
> handed out as part of the federal government's ''digital education  
> revolution'' had been reported lost or stolen.
>
> Laptop security includes content filtering, system identification  
> and theft protection.
>
> The NSW Secondary Principals Council president, Jim McAlpine, said  
> students kept trying to hack the machines and the IT people kept  
> finding ways of blocking them.
>
> A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education would not provide  
> numbers of breaches or confirm whether the department collected  
> security breach data. The spokesman said the websites were  
> monitored: ''If a student is identified providing technical advice  
> on such a site, the matter is referred to their principal who would  
> in most cases warn the student and alert the parents.''
>
So they're snooping on children.  Creepy.  What are the privacy  
implications?
> He said most breaches were ''a result of the curiosity of tech-savvy  
> 15-year-olds testing their skills against the security features of  
> the laptop or downloading copyright material''.
>
> ''In such cases the program office has notified the principal, who  
> has interviewed the student and issued a warning.'' Those deemed  
> malicious were ''minimal'', and consequences rested with principals.
>
It's not clear if they're monitoring the machines themselves.

In the US one school was able to switch on the laptop webcams remotely  
and watch children at home.  Is this what we're doing now?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR2010022000679.html

-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request