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He didn't do any major damage What do you mean he didn't do anything wrong? If all he did was find a way into their systems and report his findings of insecuri

He didn't do any major damage What do you mean he didn't do anything wrong? If all he did was find a way into their systems and report his findings of insecurity or something, certainly there would be nothing wrong with that (as long as he's following his terms of use for the school computers, also -- he's held to the rules of the school as a student). But it appears as if he's done something, maybe he didn't report what he discovered, that is indeed wrong. And I agree, the sysadmin must be pretty incompetent, but that is still no reason to be doing that. It's like saying "the lock on this safe is weak and easily broken, so I will go ahead and break it to access the contents inside." It's still a safe, you're still not supposed to break it. If you do, you should immediately recommend to the owner that they get a stronger lock. He's a typical (in a sense) 13 year old. This hardly warrants punishment. But he should indeed put his talents to better use, and that's what the author of this thread is asking. What would we recommend?

jacquesm 18y ago
If the kid was properly instructed beforehand on what was acceptable and what was not then you have a point, but the story does not relate that, hence my question. I'm assuming that this kid is just as curious as any other kid at that age, and the systems should be set up accordingly. This is trying to close the gate after the horse has bolted, ok, so he looked, big deal. Now catch up on the educational bit about privacy and minding your own business, case closed. No need to make an issue out of it. The overreaction in these cases does more damage than the event itself.
jacquesm 18y ago
addendum: the last thing you should do these days if you accidentally walk in to someones system is alert them to that fact, in schools it's a surefire way to get in to a lot of trouble, even if your intentions are noble.

jacquesm 18y ago

If the kid was properly instructed beforehand on what was acceptable and what was not then you have a point, but the story does not relate that, hence my question. I'm assuming that this kid is just as curious as any other kid at that age, and the systems should be set up accordingly. This is trying to close the gate after the horse has bolted, ok, so he looked, big deal. Now catch up on the educational bit about privacy and minding your own business, case closed. No need to make an issue out of it. The overreaction in these cases does more damage than the event itself.

jacquesm 18y ago

addendum: the last thing you should do these days if you accidentally walk in to someones system is alert them to that fact, in schools it's a surefire way to get in to a lot of trouble, even if your intentions are noble.