A 16-year-old student was arrested for cyber attacks in schools

A 16 year old high school student was arrested on Thursday as he is said to be behind the multiple cyber attacks, which resulted in interruption of virtual lessons in schools (Miami-Dade County Public Schools-M-DCPS).

Authorities arrested him after locating an IP address linked to the cyber-attacks. They soon discovered that the suspect was a 16-year-old high school student in South Miami.

Authorities said the 16-year-old student admitted to organizing eight denial of service (DDoS) attacks aimed at school electronics platform for distance education, as well as others systems. The 16-year-old student is accused of using a computer for the purpose of deception and interfering in an educational institution.

In DdoS attacks, an attacker tries to "throw" one server, increasing traffic too much.

The school community at least accepted twelve cyber attacks from Monday, when the school year began. At the same time, there was one malfunction software which in combination with the attacks, prevented more than 200.000 students from attending the virtual lessons.

The Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopez, said yesterday that his department has worked with FBI, The Secret Service and Florida law enforcement department to investigate the attacks. According to research, he believes that there are "other attackers out there".

"We will not stop until everyone is arrested and brought to justice", Said Lopez. "Cyber ​​attacks are serious crimes, with far-reaching consequences. Our message to anyone thinking of attempting such a crime is to think twice. We will find you".

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) inspector Albert Carvalho thanked federal and state authorities for their research assistance.

"It is disappointing that one of our students admitted to deliberately causing such problems, however, I am confident that the M-DCPS family will continue to focus on training despite adversity," said Carvalho.

Miami-Dade is not the first school community to fall victim attack on cyberspace. As the internet plays a very important role in education (especially at the moment), we will see more and more cyber attacks.

Reports suggest that the suspected 16-year-old student is named David Oliveros.