Hackers caught altering run records

Two university students have been arrested in Songjiang district for hacking into their school's computer system to alter attendance records for fellow students who had fallen behind on their required running, local police said Wednesday.

Police suspect that the students, surnamed Zhang and Chen, doctored records for more than 200 classmates over the last four months to show they had completed their mandatory running for gym class, according to a press release from the Songjiang District Public Security Bureau.

Zhang and Chen, who have been released on bail, allegedly charged fellow students 15 yuan ($2.41) to 20 yuan for each change to the running records, police said.

The university, which police declined to identify, requires every student to complete a morning run 15 times each month, said a press officer surnamed Li with the Songjiang District Public Security Bureau. The running requirement accounted for enough of a student's physical education grade that missing too many runs would cause a student to fail the course, perhaps jeopardizing his or her degree.

The university reported to police in March that someone had hacked into school's website and altered the running records, according to the press release. Police traced the online break-in to Zhang and Chen.

The two suspects, who had some skill in computer hacking, first broke into the school's computer system in December to alter their own records because they had fallen behind on running. When other students found out what the pair had done, they began asking Zhang and Chen to change their records as well. Smelling a business opportunity, the pair agreed to make the changes for a fee.

Many universities in Songjiang University Town have similar requirements for their students.

A student at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics told the Global Times that freshmen and sophomores have to run 12 to 20 times each semester. Although the student said the requirement was not difficult to meet, some students could not find the time to complete their runs.

For some students, the requirement is onerous enough that they are willing to pay someone else to run in their place. An underground market of sorts has sprung up online, in which students from Songjiang campuses offer to run for classmates for a fee.

Li told the Global Times that some students charged classmates more than 300 yuan for the service.

A student surnamed Chen from Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce posted an advertisement online that offered to run for any student in the university town for 25 yuan each time. She told a reporter posing as an interested student that she was also willing to take the school's 800-meter running test on her behalf for a 150 yuan fee.