Schoolboy hacker who upped his grades faces 38 years in jail »
Posted By TheAttacks 3 months, 3 weeks ago in Science & TechnologyIt could be a long time before Omar Khan goes to college: as long as 38 years, according to Orange County prosecutors, who have arrested and charged the 18-year-old student with breaking into his prestigious high school and hacking into computers.
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Comments So Far: 27
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santa03 months, 3 weeks ago
no kidding.
our success stories and heralded role models are riddled with cheaters in this country. we teach our children that you don't need to learn... you just need to grade as though you have learned. look at our major candidates in the past three elections: Bush, Kerry, Gore... all of whom were C students who tout Harvard degrees that they got because of who their parents were.
Bill Belichek.. cheater.
Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, A-Rod... cheaters.
Enron, Tyco... cheaters.
the list goes on in every feild. its a shame. this kid is a modern day success story.
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Ciera-Marie3 months, 3 weeks ago
Berkeley and GPS Center I agree with you wholeheartedly. I find it disheartening that kids or young adults first time in trouble with the law get the book through at them, sent to prison for long times where they'll learn what else?; while some murderers, robbers, rapists, sex offenders get less time.
Depending upon how good he was at it, he should be given the option of working for the government to prevent hacking.
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santa03 months, 3 weeks ago
now i agree in this case... but i do have to post my dissent in principle. i dont like the theory that if you commit a non-violent crime you should get less time. i think corporate criminals think that since their crimes are non-violent they are victemless, and i think we also have an issue in this country with letting people get off easy when they commit their crimes with a suit on.
just cause its non-violent doesnt mean it is victemless... though in this case specifically... it is pretty victemless.
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Grrr3 months, 3 weeks ago
When I was a kid, a kid that young MIGHT have gotten something like that for murder, but that was the only thing that would have gotten them anything other than something closer to a juvenile sentence. Even eighteen year olds. WTF has happened to America?
That's rhetorical. You don't need to school me on US totalitarianism.
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MacR3 months, 3 weeks ago
I can bet you that he has been hired on by some company. What most people do not realize is that when a hacker who is discovered to have talent after being caught. There are companies that will take them and put them to work. Their sentence is not reduced, but, even if they are put on probation. They will not serve the full time on probation.
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neohk3 months, 3 weeks ago
well, governments do need people to work for them.
38 years will be way too much, I guess that should be a sentence for serial psycho killers.
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liberal-with-a-gun3 months, 3 weeks ago
Heck, the government should hire this guy, this is the stuff that real spies are made of
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pagey3 months, 3 weeks ago
He would get less time had he killed someone, what happened to the punishment fitting the crime.
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toravia3 months, 3 weeks ago
WHY??????????? Why would the state waste money prosecuting this little techrat? Kids have been "breaking in" schools and stealing tests for as long as I've been alive, anyway. The punishment used to be a simple expulsion. He's 18--Give him probation, kick him out of school, and prosecute some dangerous criminals.
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Petom13 months, 3 weeks ago
Pretty sure he won't get 38 years in jail. But he will get some pretty decent job offers from software companies looking for someone with his talents.
But in the meantime, it might not be such a bad idea to let him THINK he might go to jail...
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candicane1013 months, 3 weeks ago
Yeah, what a great future employee; liar, thief, incompetent, burglar,
I would think that trespass and criminal mischief should be the maximum charge
holding him back a year will do more damage than jail time. Embarrassment and humility will teach him a better lesson. He doesn't sound all that bright to me. "hacking" in with someone else's password and installing spy ware does not require any great computer skills. Indiscriminately increasing all his grades and mass emailing exams to other students is just plain stupid. James Bond he aint. Let him check his email before he goes to jail. He'll probably be able to change his sentence from 38 years to 3.8 days.
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jstart3 months, 3 weeks ago
This i something I did as a kid, but never got caught. I guess teachers are getting smarter and more web-savvy.
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slate3 months, 3 weeks ago
Boy, you can do most anything in school, but mess with the grades,,,,, then you're gonna pay!
Another example of using a sword to remover a splinter.
Make him clean the school toilets for a few years.
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Grancher3 months, 3 weeks ago
This is an example of the ridiculousness of the increasingly draconian laws being put in place in the US. A hundred and fifty years ago Tocqueville was praising America for its light penalties and consistent enforcement, what happened? We already have over three million people in jail, is the prison industry really that important?
My first thought was to hire him too. candicane101 does have a good point about him being foolish enough to get caught, but you'd think this would teach him wouldn't you?
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