Xinhua News Agency, Shenyang, February 26th (reported by Fan Chunsheng) - The People's Court of Shenyang New District in Liaoning Province recently announced the verdict on a rare case of hacker intrusion into a university network to alter student grades: two college student hackers from Liaoning and Fujian provinces infiltrated the teaching management system of a university in Shenyang, changing the grades of 16 students from failing to passing, earning them a profit of 138,000 yuan. The court sentenced the two defendants to probation for the crime of destroying computer information systems and confiscated their illegal gains.
Min Tao, aged 22, is a current student at a university in Shenyang. Seeing frequent complaints about failed exams in the school alumni directory and chatroom, he conceived the idea of "earning money by modifying grades." Coincidentally, he met Ye Houben, a student from a university in Quanzhou, Fujian province, through QQ. Ye promised he could change exam scores but would charge fees. Min decided to act as an intermediary, having Ye provide "technical support" so they could make money together.
After investigation, the court found that since the beginning of the school term in early March last year, Min posted online messages stating he could handle failed courses for students at his university and provided a contact phone number. Soon, students contacted Min using the phone number posted online. From March to August 2011, he received a total of 138,000 yuan in "grade modification fees" from 15 students. Subsequently, Ye illegally intruded multiple times into the teaching management system of a university in Shenyang based on the information provided by Min, altering the retake exam results of 20 subjects for 16 students (including Min) and changing failing scores to passing ones. Ye obtained illegal earnings of 13,000 yuan from this.
In September last year, after the aforementioned university in Shenyang discovered that its educational management system had been breached, it reported the incident to the police. By the end of the same month, Min and Ye were successively arrested.
The court ruled that Min Tao and Ye Houben had modified data stored and processed in the computer information system, constituting the crime of destroying computer information systems. Considering that the two defendants showed good attitudes of confession and repentance after being apprehended, had good behavior during their schooling, were first-time offenders, and actively returned all ill-gotten gains, Min was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year reprieve, while Ye was sentenced to three years in prison with a three-year reprieve. Additionally, both were ordered to forfeit their illegal earnings.