Klein ISD student accused of orchestrating cyber attack that disrupted STAAR testing

pWEATHER ALERTppChristian Terry Digital Content ProducerppBryce Newberry ReporterppPublished May 27 2024 806 PMppUpdated June 21 2024 133 PMppChristian Terry Digital Content ProducerppBryce Newberry ReporterppHARRIS COUNTY Texas An 18yearold student at Klein Forest High School is currently wanted by police after they say he was responsible for cyber attacks that disrupted STAAR testing for thousands of students in the districtppKeontra Lamont Kenemore is accused of electronic access interference which is a thirddegree felony A warrant for his arrest was filed Thursday and records show he hasnt been taken into custodyppKenemore allegedly used his schoolissued Chromebook to access sites that initiated Distributed Denial of Service DDoS attacks causing major internet disruptions during State Mandated Testing STAAR in the district back in AprilppOn April 16 the Klein Forest High School testing coordinator started having internet service issues during the STAAR testing according to court recordsppThe IT department investigated and found the district was experiencing a DDoS attackppThis is like pulling the fire alarm in all schools in the Klein ISD school district at the same time and continuously for a number of hours said Nigel Neilsen who owns local IT company Nickel Idealtek IncppThe internet disruptions affected all campuses districtwide and about 3000 students on their STAAR tests on April 16 which was the first day of the English Language Arts ELA1Reading test Students were locked out and had to stop and restart their writing essays and multiple choice test answer due to the online attack records showppThis is a really easy attack to perform It probably only cost him about 20 Neilsen said Literally you can do it in about five minutesppThe next day April 17 700 students were locked out of testing across the district and had to completely retake their STAAR tests due to the online disruption according to recordsppOn the third day of testing April 18 Klein ISD IT received service interruptions at Klein Forest High School which affected the districts online testingppIn total 6981 students tested on April 16 with an additional 17298 students testing on April 17 The number of students impacted by the disruptions to the districts internet service across both days was 24279 according to the documentsppWhen questioned by school administrators Kenemore allegedly said he knew why they were having the meeting before admitting to accessing the websites used to send the DDoS attacks on multiple occasionsppNeilsen compared the attack to a flash mob filling a restaurant with no intention of dining or buying leaving those who want to eat there unable to because its fullppUsers would have had timeout notices on the web browser It would have been a 404 error saying Oh sorry something has gone wrong he saidppAfter utilizing a link creator site that can collect the IP addresses of anyone who clicks on it Kenemore allegedly used that information on a network stress tester site that appears to be hosted in Sweden records show The site didnt have any safeguards of legitimate tools and is likely only used in a malicious environment Neilsen saidppThis would have been a deliberate action because he utilized two different tools to identify the public IP address of the school district and then he would have had to manually copy and paste that into the attacking website he saidppAt Kenemores current address no one came to the door on Monday evening but a family member told KPRC 2s Bryce Newberry over the phone he claimed it was an accident that he was expelled and unable to graduateppInvestigators claim it was intentional in court recordsppKlein ISDs Accountability Rating from the Texas Education Agency could be impacted records show The TEA referred KPRC 2 to the district for any questions related to the cyber attack saying the TEA does not operate cybersecurity for Klein ISD or any other Texas public school systemppKlein ISD acknowledged KPRC 2s request for comment on Monday evening but the district was closed for the holiday and a spokesperson said a response may not come until Tuesday The following Tuesday however the district was sent specific questions by our Bryce Newberry but the district has refused to answer themppCopyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston All rights reservedppChristian Terry covered digital news in Tyler and Wichita Falls before returning to the Houston area where he grew up He is passionate about weather and the outdoors and often spends his days off on the water fishingppemailppBryce Newberry joined KPRC 2 in July 2022 He loves the thrill of breaking news and digging deep on a story that gets people talkingppemailppfacebookpptwitterppinstagramppRecommended VideosppCookie PreferencesppIf you need help with the Public File call 713 7784745ppAt KPRC we are committed to informing and delighting our audience In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence we incorporate Artificial Intelligence AI technologies to enhance our news gathering reporting and presentation processes Read our article to see how we are using Artificial IntelligenceppCopyright 2024 Click2Houstoncom is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group a division of Graham Holdingsp