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Student Logs Teachers Keystrokes
handy_vandal writes "A 16-year-old student has been charged with a misdemeanor for rigging a keystroke-recording device onto a teacher's computer. School district police received a tip from students that the boy was trying to sell answers to final exams. The District Attorney's Office has charged the teen with breach of computer information, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and up to 180 days in jail. This sort of thing has happened before. The problem is so pervasive that the GRE board has switched from computers back to paper and pencil."
Sentencing guidlines are maximums, AS in the legal limit that cannot be exceeded. So for this particular crime he may be sentenced to no more than 180 days in jail. Even if the judge feels he's dangerous scum, the 180 days is the absolute statutory max. The judge may, and likely will, use his discression and lower the sentence.
In the case of a misdemeanor carrying this little time, it's highly likely the kid will get probation, or a suspended sentence, plus some community service. Means that provided he keeps his nose clean for a few months after this and does what the court tells him, he'll be fine. Being he's a minor, it'll all go away at 18 also, the record will be expunged or sealed.
That's something people often forget when quoting sentences, it's the max being quoted, not the normal or minimum. Even minor crimes generally have a highish maximum, in relation to the crime, to deal with repeat or flagrant offendors. If this kid tries it again, clearly didn't learn his lesson, and perhaps some jail time is in order. However for misdemeanors, it's rare to see more tham a small amount of jail time, and often none.
Remember: a misdemeanor is a rather minor crime. Even as an adult, it doesn't cause you much trouble. It doesn't stick with you like a felony (employers can generally only ask about felony records) and prevent you from getting a job, owning a gun, etc. If it's a first time thing, espically for lesser ones, it's generally a slap on the wrist.
It's real different than felony computer crime, which is more serious. Also felonies quite often mandidate minimum jail time. There's a little more room to be concerned there.
Here, sounds like justice is being served. This kid broke the law, make no mistake. It is NOT legal to go and record keystrokes or otherwise take data off a computer you don't own, any more than it's legal to break in to a house that's not yours.
In this case, it's more akin to taking and copying a key. Just because you get a hold of my keyring and successfully make a copy of my key, does not give you permission to get yourself into what that key accesses. Likewise, jsut because you find out my password, doesn't give you the right to access my computer. Both are methods for securing something, indicating unauthorized access is forbidden and you need permission. Copying/stealing the key isn't permission.
So the kid broke the law. However, no real harm was caused and it's not a big deal. So he's being charged with a minor crime, and will get a small sentence. He keeps his nose clean, in 2 years they'll be no legal record of it, and likely nobody will know he did it. However, if he does it again, maybe he gets a couple months in jail to consider where the path he's choosing leads him.
To me, it sounds like justice being served as it should.
There is nothing inherently secure about USB. USB keyboards use a standardized format. The main thing that keeps you from making a keylogger is the protocol complexity -- you have to understand the usb protocol to log keystrokes. I think it's definitely doable (even though it's definitely more complex than PS/2).