Shenendehowa school district investigates hacking incident

The Shenendehowa school district is investigating a electronic hacking incident that involved two students, CBS 6 has learned.

According to district spokesperson Kelly Defeciani, two students attempted to hack into the grade system recently when they discovered a file they apparently hadn't been looking for.

The students sent an e-mail to the high school principal and a teacher stating what they had found, which turned out to be a data file that had information about the district's bus drivers.

The e-mail, sent on Oct. 21st, was signed, "A student."

School officials contacted police, who are now investigating the situation, Defeciani said.

The bus drivers, meanwhile, have all been advised to periodically check their credit report ratings and report the breach to credit reporting agencies.

The hacking incident happened when the district was in the process of moving files from one server to another; during the move, some of the information was not secure and that was when the students were able to access it, Defeciani said.

The file containing information on the drivers was the only one accessed by the students. The file was kept as part of a state DMV requirement.

"The district takes great measures to secure our data and this breach is extremely troublesome to us all," said Defeciani in a statement Thursday morning. "Once the investigation is complete those responsible will be punished according to our code of conduct and subject to possible criminal charges."

Defeciani added the district will be reviewing procedures to ensure a similar incident doesn't happen again.