Web site hacker dealt probation

Sophomore Benjamin Brodsky was found guilty at a Judicial Board hearing Monday night for hacking into the IU-Bloomington Emergency Web site Jan. 26. \nAccording to a letter from Chairman of the Campus Judicial Board Sara Roszkowski, Brodsky violated the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct and was found guilty of both "disorderly conduct which interferes with teaching, research, administration, or other university or university-authorized activity," and "violation of other published university regulations, policies, or rules."\nAfter being found guilty of both violations, Brodsky was given disciplinary probation until May 2005, he said. Brodsky said he intends to appeal the decision. \n"They've got $2.5 million to spend on security, and if they spent $5, I'd work for an hour and do it," Brodsky said. "If they can't get five more dollars to spend on Homeland Security, then I'm transferring at the end of the year."\nDuring the original incident in January, Brodsky and his roommate junior Tim Johnson, logged on to the Web site and posted a bulletin stating students should "call up your congressman and suggest the educational process at Indiana University be suspended on Monday," due to winter weather.\nJohnson, who served as Brodsky's character witness for the hearing, said he found nothing wrong with their actions.\n"I told them what happened and how we went on the site and changed it," Johnson said. "They asked me if I thought it was okay to do this, and I told them I thought it was because there was nothing on there to say we couldn't."\nWhile Brodsky said the Emergency Web site is flawed, Dean of Students Richard McKaig said the Web site may not be flawed at all.\n"It may well be that it's his perception that the Web site is flawed and not the University's," McKaig said.\nChief of Information Technology Security Mark Bruhn was called as a witness for the University.\nUITS already blocked both Johnson and Brodsky from the Emergency Web site. They argue IU is breaking the law by blocking their access to the site, which is meant to alert IU students about everything from bad weather to terrorist attacks.\nBrodsky said he is worried his technology fee might have been misused because one of the most secure Web sites has been compromised. \n"I think every student has to pay about $200 in IT tuition, and if they can't secure it, and if there was something like a terrorist attack, then I don't want to stay here," Brodsky said.\nMcKaig said discplinary probation is essentially a warning.\n"There's a definition of probation in the code, and it's basically a serious warning," McKaig said. And if there are further violations, that would result in a harsher punishment."\nBrodsky was selling "tickets" to his judicial hearing for $1 each. In order to use the ticket, Brodsky requested that the buyer be a character witness at his trial.\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.