A 22-year old student of the University of Iowa has been arrested by the FBI and charged with unauthorized accessing of a computers for obtaining information and intentionally transmitting computer software to cause damage..
Trevor Graves who is an ex-wrestler, was accused of conducting a cheating scheme to obtain test copies in advance, and also changing his grades and that of his classmates multiple times which makes him stand a risk of facing atleast 10 years in jail if found guilty.
Graves installed keyloggers devices on the computer systems of the university classes and labs. Through the keylogger software, he was able to access login credentials of his professor, including emailing systems of the university and whatever that was typed on the compromised systems.
Using those login credentials, Graves was able to access test and exam questions ahead of exam sittings. He was also changed grades of assignments, quizzes and tests for himself and his friends on his home network.
Graves was also accused of changing his grades over 90+ times over a span of 21 months between March 2015 and December 2016.
However, one of his professors noticed several changes made to Graves grades which she didn't authorize. Immediately, the female professor notified the university I.T security department which later led to his arrest in October.
The New York Times explained that a figure around $68,000 was spent by the university in the investigation. During the probe, Graves cellphones, Keyloggers and USB drives that contained copies of some of the exams that he stole.
One of the confiscated cellphones contained screenshots that showed Graves using an email account belong to one of his professor and an exam attachment. Some text messages too were discovered in which Graves discussed about exam questions he took, sharing the information with other students .
Graves was arrested on Tuesday but is currently out of prison after paying the bond and appearing before the court on Thursday in Iowa. Graves who was a member of the Hawkeyes wrestling team in 2013 before leaving in 2015