school needs help stopping hackers

[liquidmonkey]

i work as a math teacher (90%) and computer guy (10%) at a school and on our computers we are using windows XP which is run from another company on a network. in order to access the computers you must login and your own password. i'm sure you know the login screen. without this you cannot access anything OR so i thought.
kids have been getting into the computers, reseting the BIOS passwords (how they got in is beyond me), putting in Power Up passwords and such, one kid even installed a totally different version of windows. this is a problem and i would like to know a technical solution on 1) how to stop the kids from doing this and 2) how are they able to do this?
i'm no hacker / cracker and only work on the computers at the school 2 hours a week so i don't have a lot of time to deal with these problems in depth.
can someone out there please help me?

 

[UK31337]

With the problems you describe, I think you should seriously ask your school to install CCTV in your computer suites.

At least you'll be able to punish those responsible, if not prevent it.

The kids are accessing the BIOS probably by (you won't believe this) opening the case. Sounds daring, I know. They're probably opening the case and removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard. This makes the motherboard "forget" the BIOS settings, including the password, thus enabling the kids access to the boot sequence, allowing them to boot from CD to install different Windows.

To be honest, why they would want to is totally beyond me.

 

[ducky16000]

I would suggest a lock for the case

 

[dyserq]

Yes, a lock for the case would do, hmm opening th case and resetting the BIOS password sure is becoming much more common these days ... not sure why though

 

[Lord Kalthorn]

Not even a lock on the case, although its a great idea; lock the rooms and supervise the children when they're in the rooms?

 

[ducky16000]

it's disturbing though how many kids know how to pick locks.

 

[G.]

ok time for me to come a bit clean ....
1)yes i know how to pick locks (use google)
2) no you don't need to open the case.
3) to get in the bios you first flash it then reinstall it.
4)yes supervision is highly recomended
5)lol you think your kids are bad?

since last year i have stoped so dont be tellin me off

 

[AnonymousI]

I think your school has major security issues...

I think you need a new and experienced tech department in your school. It seems that they dont know what theyre doing

As an IT student, I observed many of the security precautions in my school:

-all of the computers are locked with an ultra strong cable and lock connected permanently from the desk to the computer through and ending at the monitor. It is permanently connected to the table such that you cannot even move the computer or monitor - the cable cannot even budge.

-all of the computers have BIOS passwords

-every computer is only set to boot to the HD - there is no other boot devices enabled

-most of the new computers have a locked cover - requires a special key - on the back of the computer where all the ports are so that no one can steal the mouse and keyboard

-most of the computers have Vision from MasterSolutions

 

[Computergen1]

Wow, thats weird. Any of the people who have the knowledge to reset the CMOS wouldn't have the guts to do it, at least in my school. But...Damn.

 

[ducky16000]

one quick but not so legal sloution would be to electrify the keyboard. JK