Son hacked into the school system- should he accept a caution?

[Animavillis]

Hi, I'm desperately looking for some advise about my son's situation. He hacked into the school computer system and changed a desktop picture. In return, the school reported him to the police. After 3 months, the police decided to give him a conditional caution. Both the police, YOT and the firm which provided a duty solicitor during the police interview are nagging me to sign it. I am hesitant though because this will be on my son's record forever and he didn't do any damage to the school. His intention was to let them know that the system was insecure and easily accessible. What is going to happen if he doesn't sign it?

[Impatientismymiddlename]

To repeat what I have already said, a caution would disappear from CRB/DBS checks after 2 years. The courts have forced the government to introduce rules filtering most offences from enhanced CRB/DBS checks after a number of years.

That is not correct. It will show on an enhanced crb for the purposes of working with vulnerable people, because it is relevant information. Go and check the facts. The police would be negligent in their duties to protect vulnerable persons if they allowed such info to lapse. Accepting a caution is acknowledging guilt.

[Tanith]

It depends on how old this CHILD is, ReallyTired, and exactly what he did. The Op hasn't elaborated. In another year, the Op's son might well be old enough for university, where he will be thrown out for doing this.

Silly little idiots messing around to show off to their mates can do a lot of damage. It's to deter them as much as to punish them that the authorities take it so seriously.
Arguing that other serious incidents are dealt with too leniently is not a reason to relax the attitude towards hacking.

[prh47bridge]

Speaking as someone who is involved in child protection I suggest you take your own advice and check the facts. To help you get it right, you can find the facts here.

It used to be the case that any conviction or caution remained on an enhanced DBS check forever. That changed from 29th May 2013 as a result of a decision by the courts that continuing to include all convictions, cautions, etc. was a violation of the subject's human rights. Records are now filtered so that most cautions and convictions are removed after a certain time. However, certain offences are never removed. You can find the detailed rules and the list of offences that are never filtered by following the link above.

[prh47bridge]

Sorry - that last post was directed at Impatientismymiddlename

[KatieChooChoo]

This really depends how old he is. My friends son is 8 years and is an absolute whizz kid with IT. Hes wrote a programme (all goes over my head).
Im sure he'll be fully aware at 8 years old that hacking is wrong.

Not a nice situation for a parent but if your son is bright enough to hack into a computer system he must be intelligent enough to know its wrong!

[PigletJohn]

I am a bit disappointed that so many people seem to think it is an achievement which should be rewarded by congratulations or a job offer.

Most computer systems are extremely insecure and it doesn't take much to get in with a guessed password.

If he had broken into the school by opening a door lock with a simple and inexpensive home-made tool, would you be suggesting he should get a job in Burglary Prevention? I can run classes if you like. Ten minutes would be more than enough.

[prh47bridge]

No chance whatsoever of getting the school prosecuted for wasting police time. I doubt you would even get a crime reference number. Like it or not, the OP's son has committed a criminal offence. The school is within its rights to report this.

A caution would not prevent a US Disneyland visit. It would have to be declared to the US authorities but it would not result in entry being refused.

And in UK terms it is a caution is on his criminal record for life but that will only be relevant if he gets into trouble with the police in future. Two years after the caution it will stop appearing on any DBS checks so no-one other than the police and courts will be aware of it.

[prh47bridge]

Just to add, you can only waste police time if you knowingly make a false report. The school has not done so. It has made a true report. Any attempt to sue it (or any of the teachers) for wasting police time would automatically fail.

[BadgerB]

Go gaba! - Ridiculous to equate this with criminal damage or breaking and entering. Obviously the IT teacher is not as skilled as OP's son and it's embarrassing to him/her.

[differentnameforthis]

yes wrong but not hugely damaging or anything over than a teenager who doesn't wait to think of the consequences of his behaviour

Could be hugely damaging if he accessed sensitive data, inc student data & previous exam results, staff details, etc. I know that in this case he didn't, I don't buy the excuse that he was trying to show how easy it was to gain access. He could have just raised it with the IT dept.

What if he was trying to see how easy it was, as he was thinking of trying to gain access to other info? No one knows expect him, but no, I don't agree that is isn't hugely damaging.

I would give him a Duke of Edinburh Award and a job managing computer systems and training. You do know how damaging hacking can be, don't you?

[gaba]

OK PH, so this kid changes the desktop picture on a school computer, and because it is embarrassing to the inept IT teacher, the kid gets hassle from the cops.

This is the sort of thing that makes me sick of this country.

Some busy-body imbecile teacher, getting personal with a child, just charming. Then a kid getting a criminal record because of it.

What the kid has learned from all this.... Don't trust authority, you can't trust your teachers (probably already figured that one) the police are a disreputable bunch of jobsworths with no honor whatsoever... What else, ah yes, adults are just big children with petty gripes and insecurities.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

gaba
"There is no excuse for this sort of disgusting behavior from teachers and schools."

WTAF
There is no mention of teachers from the OP at all, in fact there is very little information to go on, yet once again its "disgusting behaviour" from teachers and schools.

You are aware that ALL of the SEN information, medical history, contact details, addresses etc. are kept on the same system?

I don't think posters are aware of how school computer systems have changed, or that its not as simple as changing the desktop picture on your pc.

[BadgerB]

If the info now kept on school computers is so very personal and sensitive then the school is even more at fault for the insecurity of their system. But no, they expect the kids to think this through and not expose their shortcomings.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

BadgerB
"If the info now kept on school computers is so very personal and sensitive then the school is even more at fault for the insecurity of their system"

No system is fully secure, and I would hazard a guess that the reason why the OP's son only changed the desktop was because that was as far as he could get.

[gaba]

Its not the hackers that bother me, its the criminals keeping all the data on me and my family. The people that put all that information on the machines, are the real danger, not some kid who wants to have a look.

Just to add ...

All those who say you should 'dob in' your kids, I doubt they would do the same to theirs. What mother would sell out her own children?

[BadgerB]

One of my sons worked in computer security/fraud detection and earned more than the rest of the family put together. Then he left to retrain as a teacher.. There's a potentially well paid career waiting for your son, OP.

[rabbitstew]

I think hacking into a computer is every bit as bad as breaking into a house and spraying graffiti. Just as someone whose house has been broken into feels insecure, unsafe and worried about what else the odious vandal looked through and touched when they did it, so anyone whose personal information might have been on a computer system broken into, would worry. Just as breaking and entering into a house just to prove how easy it is, is unacceptable and showing a complete lack of empathy, so is hacking into someone else's computer. It is not acceptable to demonstrate peoples' vulnerabilities by making them feel scared and vulnerable.

[Lagoonablue]

'Dob in'???? How old are you?

Yes I would report my kids for committing an offence actually. It would send quite the wrong message not to and they need to face up to the consequences of their actions.

Yes to seeking legal advice and check what they would be likely to charge him with, that will help you decide if to accept it or not.

[gaba]

Ok so if there are only two options, it is simple.

1 Accept a caution and get a criminal record for life.

2 Don't accept and you will all but certainly never hear another word about it. But in the worst case scenario (child porn photos all over school website) he will get a criminal record... as #1 above.

[gaba]

There are kids out their stabbing each other, drugs, guns, robbing and rape.

Does anyone really think the police should be wasting time going after a kid who changed the background photo on a computer?

If I was a police man and got called to a school for this, I would for sure be making a couple of arrests. The Head and the other teacher involved would be going in the naughty suite for a few hours to cool off. Then I might 'let them off with a caution'.

[PigletJohn]

gaba

just to check

what makes you think that he just "changed the background photo?"

can you tell me please what confidential or personal information he viewed? Or would I be right in thinking that you don't know?

this is very comparable to a person breaking into a home or office, rifling through the files, and painting graffiti on the walls. He would not be prosecuted for the graffiti in particular.

[prh47bridge]

Gaba - Unauthorised access to a computer system is a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act. What he did or didn't do when he got there is irrelevant. He has committed a crime. If he does not accept the caution the CPS will look at this and realise it is a nailed on conviction. They may choose not to prosecute but that is a huge gamble for the OP's son.

And if you had been the police officer called to the school and had behaved as you describe you would have been disciplined and may have faced prosecution for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. The teachers have not committed any crime. It is never a crime to report that an offence has been committed unless you know that your report is false.

[PatriciaHolm]

Given the OP has conspicuously failed to return or provide any details, all this speculation about "changing a picture" is useless.

It could be an 10 year old who took advantage of a teacher popping to the toilet to jump on a classroom PC and change the back ground picture; it could be a 17 year old who spent hours deliberately hacking into a secondary school online homework system to put up a pornographic picture of a classmate for all to see. We have no idea, and i bet people's advice would be very different in the two scenarios.