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PROVO — A 26-year-old former Brigham Young University student has been arrested after officials say he broke into the school's computer system to change his grades.
Gabriel Camacho was arrested this week for hacking into BYU computers to change his grades. Camacho could face charges of identity theft, computer crime and burglary.
Lt. Arnold Lemmon of the BYU Police Department said Camacho allegedly broke into offices of professors and administrators to load keylogger software onto the computers. This would allow him to steal their usernames and passwords, then gain remote access into the system.
Camacho was dismissed from BYU and banned from campus in January, according to school spokesman Joe Hadfield.
"It looks like to us his hacking was focused on his records, trying to manipulate them," Lemmon said. "His standing at the university, his admission, tests and all that kind of stuff."
BYU Police suspected Camacho in several incidents dating back to 2010, involving stealing tests, cheating and hacking. Camacho pleaded guilty to a Class B misdemeanor involving the theft of an unattended laptop in 2012.
Police obtained evidence when Camacho was fired from his tech engineer's job at a Lindon company.
"They suspected him in the theft of some property from their firm," Lemmon said. "After they escorted him out of the business and went through his office, they found a USB device."
The company then called Lindon Police, who got a search warrant and discovered a significant amount of data from BYU.
Lemmon said when Camacho was interviewed by BYU Police after his arrest, he confessed to all the incidents he was suspected of, except for the one charge he was convicted of a few years ago.
