can anyone shed some light...

[Marsha]

OKay i have a question maybe someone here will be able to give me some insite on it.

This is the situation: My son got in trouble in school for doing things on the computer he isnt supposed to do. What i question is if the head computer security guy lied to me. Now that i look back on my meeting i think he might have. My son said he installed something to let him remote access his computer at home so while he was at school he could restart his server he runs if it goes down. The security guy at the shool show us a screen shot of him typing in an ip in a remote access screen. would thsi not mean he was tring to remote access an outsode computer not be tring to set up access to the school computer from home? This has been bugging me and i didnt look real close at the paper when he showed it to us and at the time i said "my son said what he did was the other way to access his computer at home not tthe other way around and he showed me that paper and said that paper shows he was doing the opposite. To me it doesnt make sense. in my thought if your already on the school computer typing a ip would give you access to another computer not be giving you access to the system your already on? am i right or am i wrong? I know this is pretty vague and you my not be able to answer me with more info but i dont have any more details other than that. So if you can answer me great if not i guess i will be pondering this for much longer.

[Ragnarok]

sounds to me like he was trying to use telnet and ssh to gain access to his home computer. now if he copied the certain program, probably puTTy, you can gain access both ways but the ports on the receiving/sending end have to be available. if your sons school doesnt have port 22 blocked shame on them. if you want a better probable answer/explaination ask neo, widow, or pocket. they know hells more than i do

[NLSoulja]

Its possible he was just using Remote desktop connection to connect to his home PC as thats pretty easy to do and doesn't pose a security threat to the schools computer at all.

Another thing, you said your son istalled something so it could have been soemthing like logmein.com which he could install on his home computer to allow access from his pc by logging into a website from school.

Or he could have been using a tool like Rag said above.

Could you ask your son what program he downloaded? It sounds like he may have been in the wrong for downloading a program (like VNC viewer) if any, but he may not have been trying to access school computers from his house.

[Allerun]

Without seeing what they showed you and without further details, I couldn't say for sure. Depending on the competence of their "IT Security" guy, and if these were Windows based computers, the most likely scenario was he was using Putty (which you can run off the desktop without installing anything, it's a simple executable) to ssh into his home computer. You can use Putty to create a two way connection, but if his login only has limited access rights, he cannot run the program to do that anyway. Nor could he actually install any software. Furthermore, like Rag said, there would have to be an open incoming port, the default for ssh is 22 and if they have that open they are idiots. Regardless though, it sounds like he was using the school computers in a way that violates the user agreement he probably okayed when he logged in. That said, I think they are trying to intimidate/scare you or your son so that he doesn't try it again or they are making an example out of him.

What did the screenshot you saw look like? What did the IP address look like? What program did your son say he was using?

[Widow]

I'm going with Allerun on this. Schools "normally" lock down ports to prevent outside access. And I would hope that your son isn't an idiot and was trying to setup a remote connection to the school. There is a possibility that he might have installed software on a system. Shame on him for doing it. Shame on the IT department for setting up the securities wrong.

I had a similar incident happen to me when I was in school. Teacher tried to strong arm me for not doing what I was supposed to on the machine.

Unless we know what the paper looked like, we really can't tell you for sure. What kind of trouble did he get into? Slap on the hand, or something more?

[Marsha]

well my son is one of those kids that tried to find loop hole in any rules. SO he feels he did nothing wrong becasue the rules only stipulate no DL'ing on the school computer and he said he uploaded not downloaded therefore didnt break any rules. We had the meeting friday befrore school let out and they were suppose to meet after our meeting to make a final decision on punishment (currently 10 day suspension pending the meeting) if they didnt get to tthe meeting they were supposed to met during christmas break and decide but i haven't heard any thing back and the go back to school monday. He also says he never signed any computer user agreement this year. He doesnt deny being able to access his home computer from and admit he has done so. He has been up front with them about everything he did. They had him writ his side of the story on paper. And in it he was soo cocky...he wrote "i wasn't trying to hide anything because if i didn't want you to find out you wouldn't have been able to." lol It's funny but it's not. He in no way harmed the school system and the security guy even said he hadn't and whatever he installed or uploaded has been there for months now. I guess last yera they had two kids get inthe system and send ot virus. one got expelled one got sent to alternative schooling. So we will see what happens. He is sleeping otherwise i would ask him what he installed/uploaded.

[Marsha]

OKay ths is what he explained to me. He installed realvnc on the school computer put in the school IP to open the port to let him access his computer at home. He says in order for him to access the school from home he would need to have put his ip in their not the schools.. IS this right?

[Jack]

I doubt your son would go through so much trouble of telling you the details of the software he was using just to cover up a lie. I would go directly to the IT guy and demand some logs of his activities. You have every right to question that IT guy, especially if you planned to take it up above him.

[Widow]

Hate to tell you this Marsha. I use RealVNC as a remote desktop viewer/controller for my work. The way it works is this:

1) Install the server on the computer you want to be able to control or view. (Your Son's computer)
2) Install the viewer on the computer you want to use to connect to the computer that has the server. (School computer)
3) You start the application and it asks for an I.P. or host name and a password if you set it up on the server. This means he would be typing in YOUR HOME I.P. not the school's.
4) He would also have to open ports on your router at home to allow such a connection in. Most routers block all ports until you state otherwise.

Either your son really has no idea what he was doing, or he was possibly trying something there at the school based on what you said he told you. The only sure way is to get a copy of the screenshot or whatever proof they have that he was doing something wrong.

As far as the user agreement. They could easily have a user agreement that lasts up to four years. So if he was a freshman last year, that would be why he wouldn't have signed one his sophmore year.

A little hint for him though. Remote Desktop that comes standard with XP works just fine. Of course they could block those outgoing ports easily as well.

[Allerun]

OKay ths is what he explained to me. He installed realvnc on the school computer put in the school IP to open the port to let him access his computer at home. He says in order for him to access the school from home he would need to have put his ip in their not the schools.. IS this right?

No. In order for him to access his computer at home from a school computer using realvnc he would enter his home IP or domain name that points to his home IP. If he entered in the school IP from a school computer running realvnc, he was trying to access the school's network, not his at home. The IP is just a number that acts as an address. Think of it this way, if he were at school, he would put in his home phone number to call home, and the school's phone number to call the school. IP addresses work in a similar fashion. The school was stupid for allowing his account to install software (realvnc is installed software unlike Putty which is just an executable). It does sound like he was trying to access the schools computers from that description. Whether it was intentional or maybe he just didn't understand how to access his home computer, couldn't tell you. One thing he might do is drop the attitude, though. It's not going to help in the long run, he did get caught and saying that he got caught because he wasn't trying to hide his tracks raises red flags. I know he's (probably) a teenager, but sometimes you have to eat crow and move on.

[Allerun]

A little hint for him though. Remote Desktop that comes standard with XP works just fine. Of course they could block those outgoing ports easily as well.

That also requires him to have XP Pro on his home computer.

[Marsha]

Yes he is a teenager (17) and he is my "problem" child. Has been in BD classes and had this kinda attitude since he been like 3rd grade so i dont see him changing it any time soon. Though thought we were finally dong good as he has had no dean office visits since 1st semester last year. Its mainly his mouth that gets him in trouble. He doesnt know when to quit always has to have the last word.

[NLSoulja]

eh, well hes on the right track for a career in computers, something like ethical hacking or something if he wants. But he still needs to keep his nose clean just so he knows. That will follow him around for a while, once hes 17 anyways.

Anyways, sounds pretty minor to me.

[Marsha]

Well, just updating you a bit. they still havent finallize what will happen with him. The have decided to goto a hearing witht he board of education. the 3 possible outcomes will be: expulsion, alternative placement or back in school. the dean and the other at his school are recommending alternative placement. So we have the hearing on Monday morning so we will find out what will happen then.

This is where he will go for alternative placement http://www.learningcommunity202.org/academy/about. htm

[Juggalo Fett]

I have tried to type somthing that wasn't cookie cutter. All I can say is I hope he turns his head around before he really F's his life up.
I'm sorry for your troubles Marsha. :blink:

[Marsha]

well we have some good news on this subject. before the expulsion hearing we had a meeting to determine if his action were part of his "behavior disorder" which is why he is in the bd program at school. and seeing it was determine they were part of his behavior disorder that expulsion option is not an option anymore. We now have to have an IEP (individualize education program) meeetng to determine if we can set some sort of pregram up at the school he attending to accomidate his issues or if he will be going to alternative schooling. I think they are leaning toward letting him stay at his current school and just make provisions the #1 provision will be no computer access during school. So he will go back to school tomorrow and we are supposed to be meeting sometime tomorrow or wednesday to make a new IEP =)

[Widow]

That's good to hear.