It was ten minutes into the IT lesson when someone put up their hand to complain the computer had frozen up. Mr Rogers went over and tried to help, but soon more and more pupils begun having the same problem. Moments later every screen in the lab went blank, and skull and crossbones appeared along with the words: CAN YOU HACK IT?
This was not the first trouble to occur with the computer system at Woodsboro High. First someone had hacked into the student files and caused havoc by changing grades and medical details, and messing up timetables. Then there had been several incidents of school work being deleted, and now a virus had been uploaded into the network, wiping the hard drive and leaving the computers out of action.
As a team of technicians worked to repair and reboot the computers, down on Jump Street a team of young police officers looked over the case file.
"I want you on this Hanson," Captain Fuller said, handing the paperwork to Tom. "Go in, hang around the lab, interact with the kids and find out if one of them is behind this."
"Hanson: a computer geek?" Doug Penhall teased. "That could work!"
Tom ignored him and asked Fuller; "You think it's one of the kids?"
"The principal does," Fuller explained. "And he's had it up to here."
"I bet," Judy Hoffman said, shaking her head. "Deleting their classmate's work, tampering with permanent records? That's low. Who would do a thing like that?"
"That's what I'm gonna find out," Tom replied.
