Police have arrested a student in connection to the cyber attacks that targeted the online school system for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Miami-Dade Schools Police announced the arrest of 16-year-old David Oliveros, a junior at South Miami Senior High, Thursday morning.
Officials arrested the teen at his home, located along the 40 block of Northwest 59th Court, at around 2:45 a.m.
“It takes no joy in announcing the early morning arrest of a 16-year-old student,” he said.
Carvalho also took the opportunity to address the teen directly.
“What you did is you contributed to the extreme disruption, anxiety-causing stress, confusion across a school system,” he said.
Investigators said the teen used a gaming console to attack the network.
“This fleeting moment of fame will quickly vanish,” said Carvalho.
Police have confiscated Oliveros’ computer and other devices.
The student has been charged with computer use in an attempt to defraud, a third-degree felony, and interference with an education institution, a misdemeanor.
This arrest, police said, may be the first of many.
“We believe, based upon our investigation, that other attackers are out there. We will not rest until every one of them is caught and brought to justice,” said Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopez.
Dafne Roque was shocked to learn that an arrest was made on her street.
Like many, Roque’s teens have struggled with the online system.
“It was terrible, because the kid is, you know, passing a lot of work,” said Roque.
Officials said students missing work is part to blame on not just one hacker.
“As the [country’s] largest school district, and quite frankly, the best in my humble opinion, we are a target,” said Lopez. “We are a target of individuals trying to dismantle or disrupt the learning process.”
Miami-Dade Schools Police worked jointly with the FBI, the Secret Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to trace back the IP address of the person responsible for the attack.
“You know, that’s the kind of stuff that catches you by surprise,” said Kevin Jarquin, Oliveros’ next door neighbor.
Jarquin said he finds the entire situation hard to believe.
“I don’t think that someone who is 16 years old is capable of being able to shut down many teachers and many supervisors from being able to access the kind of work that they do.”
Access for students and teachers to virtual classrooms has been spotty. Over the past three days, tens of thousands of students and teachers have been either locked out or bumped out.
At first, district leaders thought their only problem was a glitchy server.
On Tuesday, the superintendent was alerted to multiple cyber attacks against the district. Those attacks continued Wednesday.
