A 16-year-old high school student was arrested Thursday after being accused of being behind multiple cyberattacks that resulted in the disruption of virtual classes at Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS ) .
Authorities made the arrest after tracking down an IP address linked to the cyberattacks. They soon discovered the suspect was a 16-year-old high school student in South Miami.
Authorities said the 16-year-old student admitted to organizing eight denial of service (DDoS) attacks targeting the school's online platform for distance learning, as well as other systems. The 16-year-old student is charged with using a computer for the purpose of fraud and interfering with an educational institution.
In DdoS attacks, an attacker attempts to "bring down" a serverby excessively increasing traffic.
The school community has been hit by at least a dozen cyberattacks since the school year began on Monday. At the same time, there was a malfunction software that, combined with the attacks, prevented more than 200,000 students from attending virtual classes.
Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopezsaid yesterday that his department has been working with the FBI, Secret Service and Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the attacks. Based on the investigation, he believes there are “other attackers out there.”
“We will not stop until they are caught and brought to justice,” Lopez said. “Cybercrime is a serious crime, with far-reaching consequences. Our message to anyone thinking of attempting such a criminal act is to think twice. We will find you.”
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Superintendent Albert Carvalho thanked federal and state authorities for their assistance in the investigation.
“It is disappointing that one of our students admitted to intentionally causing such problems, however, I am confident that the M-DCPS family will continue to focus on education, despite the adversity,” Carvalho said.
Miami-Dade is not the first school community to fall victim to a cyberattack. As the internet plays such a significant role in education (especially right now), we will see more and more cyberattacks.
Reports claim that the suspect, a 16-year-old student, is named David Oliveros.
