Porn hackers target school websites

The Times Educational Supplement (TES) reported that 20 schools may have been targeted by the hackers.

The pornographic material is not thought to be accessible from within the schools as they are protected by firewalls. But the issue will raise concerns among parents as students may inadvertently access the pornographic images when searching for information about their school when using computers not based at the building.

The hackers have targeted a virtual learning service used by a number of schools across the country. The scam works when a computer user enters the school name on a web search. Among one of the many search results returned will be the bogus site and when this is selected, hardcore pornography will appear.

St Dunstan's Primary in Birmingham is one of the schools targeted. Headteacher at the school Tony Kenny said the link had now been removed and he didn't believe that anyone had accessed the website.

He explained "Once we've known about it we've acted straight away to get it removed. What we were concerned about is that the school's good name was associated with such a site. We do not believe that anyone has accessed the site."

Software company WebAnywhere is web developer for a large proportion of schools across the UK. Sean Gilligan managing director of the company, said: "In the last five years we have provided more than 2,000 schools with a website. In that time less than one per cent have been victims of malicious targeting by external hackers."

The problem is believed to have started when some users continued to work with old software instead of obtaining newer versions from Moodle - a free online package used by millions across the world which enables students and teachers to communicate with each other.

A spokeswoman from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said: "We lay down clear guidance for schools so they have strong internet policies, on internal and external websites, which protects young people from inappropriate material - and we have launched the groundbreaking UK Council for Child Internet Safety to monitor and protect young people from unsuitable web material."

Birmingham Council said an investigation had been launched into the hacker's activity. A spokeswoman said: "There is no indication yet who put it there and if it has any link to the genuine use of the site or has been put on maliciously. We are investigating this as a matter or urgency and will bring anything improper to the attention of the relevant people."