The Miami-Dade Schools Police arrested a high school junior Thursday for allegedly launching cyber attacks on the school district, according to a statement.
David Oliveros, a 16-year-old at South Miami Senior High School, was arrested Thursday morning, Miami-Dade Schools Police said, according to 7 News Miami. (RELATED: Florida Teen Arrested For Massive Twitter Hack That Targeted More Than 100 Other Accounts, Prosecutors Say)
The student arrested admitted that he conducted eight cyber attacks, according to a statement from the school district. The student was “charged with computer use in an attempt to defraud, a 3rd degree felony, and interference with an educational institution, a 2nd degree misdemeanor,” according to the statement.
Arrest Made in Cyber Attacks Against @MDCPS https://t.co/HIKR6CgBt5
— Miami-Dade Schools (@MDCPS) September 3, 2020
The Miami-Dade County Public Schools have been under more than a dozen cyber attacks since the school year started, according to the statement and is the fourth-largest school district in the U.S., according to The Miami Herald.
Detectives are still working to find out if anyone else is responsible for the cyber attacks, according to the statement.
“We believe, based upon our investigation, that other attackers are out there,” Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopez said in the statement. “We will not rest until every one of them is caught and brought to justice. Cyber attacks are serious crimes, which have far-reaching negative impacts. Our message to anyone thinking of attempting a criminal act like this is to think twice. We will find you,” Lopez said.
“The student used an online application” to conduct “eight Distributed Denial-of-Service cyber attacks,” which compromised the district networks, according to the statement. The hacking interrupted the My School Online system, an online platform the district uses to conduct classes virtually, according to The Miami Herald.
The school does not believe any personal data was compromised, according to a statement from the district posted to Twitter.
Technical and connection difficulties started Monday when classes began and students and teachers weren’t able to get to My School Online, according to a Wednesday NBC News report. Students and teachers had been unable to access or were kicked off online classrooms for past the several days, 7 News Miami reported.
The cyber attacks and the software difficulties hindered the My School Online tool when school began virtually, according to a school statement. Due to the online tool’s issues, students were instructed to use alternative methods their teacher or school approves of, such as Zoom video conferencing.
The school district is looking at options and when students can go back to in-person learning, according to a July 29 statement.
The Miami-Dade Schools Police Department and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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