When the I.T. department is dumber than a bag of hammers.

[usonian]

High school changes every student’s password to ‘Ch@ngeme!’
https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/29/high-school-changes-every-students-password-to-chngeme/

After a cybersecurity audit mistakenly reset everyone’s password, a high school changed every student’s password to “Ch@ngeme!” giving every student the chance to hack into any other student’s account, according to emails obtained by TechCrunch.

Last week, Oak Park and River Forest (OPRF) High School in Illinois told parents that during a cybersecurity audit, “due to an unexpected vendor error, the system reset every student’s password, preventing students from being able to log in to their Google account.”

“To fix this, we have reset your child’s password to Ch@ngeme! so that they can once again access their Google account. This password change will take place beginning at 4 p.m. today,” the school, which has around 3,000 students, wrote in an email dated June 22. “We strongly suggest that your child update this password to their own unique password as soon as possible.”

More commonly, users are forcibly logged out and asked to set a new password next time they log in.

A day later, the school realized the mistake and told parents in an email that the Education Technology Department “will be emailing you a special password process over the weekend that will be unique to your specific student.”