Students at the West Oso school complex fell victim to a hacker who displayed inappropriate images during their virtual class.
Conrado Garcia, principal of the West Oso School Complex, told KRIS 6 News that the incident occurred during one of the school complex's virtual classes.
“We feel terrible about what happened,” he said. “Our children should not be exposed to these things.”
School officials do not know how the breach was carried out, but they said that if a student or someone associated with the school complex is behind the breach, they will suffer very serious consequences.
Conrado Garcia said the inappropriate photos appeared for only a few minutes and that the school complex is investigating the incident.
“There are people out there who really want to do something bad,” he said. “Even with all the firewalls turned on they found a way to break into the systems, but fortunately the break-in only lasted a few minutes.”
Garcia said the school complex has firewalls in place to prevent situations like these, but that similar incidents have likely occurred and will continue to occur at other school complexes.
Police Chief Kirby Warnke spoke about the consequences a hacker could face if they "disrupt" a virtual class.
“If they hack the system, they could face charges for breaching computer security ,” he said. “If they break into a virtual class and use profanity, they could face charges for disorderly conduct or something like that. If they display pornographic material in the virtual class, then we’re talking about a very serious offense.”
