The senior female student was charged by the police for carrying out a series of cyber-attacks on more than 12 local school districts.
18-Year-Old Female Hacker Charged For Launching DDoS Attacks
A senior female student from Franklin Regional High School was charged by the police for carrying out a series of cyber-attacks on more than 12 local school districts. This is one of the rare hacking cases we get to notice because most hacking attempts were carried out by male hackers.
Michaela Gabriella King, the 18-year-old girl was charged for illegal use of computer systems and for disrupting a computer system intentionally. She also launched attacks against Westmoreland County government and the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg.
According to the reports from Pittsburgh Tribune, Michaella Gabriella was released on a signature bond after being charged before Charles Conway, Export District Judge. The investigations started when Brad Schrecengost who is a supervisor of technology at Franklin Regional informed the authorities about the possible DDoS attack.
Paul Burkey and Murrysville Patrolman David Hanko, who are investigating the incidence reported that each attack launched against the district’s computer system lasted for approximately 10 to 45 minutes.
The same investigations also revealed that the attack was pretty large-scale because it affected dozens of school districts, Westmoreland County government and the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg.
As reported by triblive “Affected school districts are: the county’s three career and technology centers, Derry Area, Greater Latrobe, Greensburg Salem, Ligonier Valley, Kiski Area, Jeannette, Burrell, Monessen, Greensburg Central Catholic, Hempfield Area and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit.”
“The diocese, county and school districts all use the Intermediate Unit as their internet service provider, investigators reported.”
Franklin Regional and the police hired computer technicians to reveal what actually happened and came to know that Gabriella launched three attacks on the district’s system. Police seized eight personal computers, tablets, laptops, and King’s smartphone from her residence.
Michaela Gabriella King admitted that she was using her PayPal account to pay for membership on the BetaBooter service to launch series of DDoS attacks. According to Tribune-Review, Michaela Gabriella King told investigators that she considered herself a “computer genius” and her case will continue with a preliminary hearing on December 20.
