As students came back to school, eager for the 2023-24 school year, they were met with a sudden change as they opened their Chromebooks. When entering in their usernames, an error popped up to inform them that it was now incorrect. Their previous username, which they had used to login to most online academic applications for much of their education, had been suddenly changed during their absence.
Instead of using their initials to login, students now use their nine digit student ID number as their username, a change made by the school district. Students were initially shocked and experienced difficulty accessing their logins, and then realized how easily other people could access their account using the new usernames. Especially following previous hacking instances and spam messages in Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), the change in login information may pose a threat to Ayala’s cybersecurity and cause a shift among students’ mindsets regarding it.
The main issue that students have identified is that their designated password contains the last five digits of their ID number. This means that anyone who knows, searches for, or happens to see an ID number typed in the username bar can simply use this information to access someone’s entire account, schoolwork and messages included. The only other part of the password that they would need to know is their first and last initials, which is already accessible to most students.
The issue on cybersecurity in CVUSD has already been seen among students and staff. In previous years, Ayala students have received spam messages to their school emails, advertising products or offering work.
“The [spam] emails said ‘Do you want a free grand piano?’” senior Haejoo Chang said. “It was from one of those random emails…so I just deleted all of them.”
Many students have had similar experiences, leading them to believe that the changes to their usernames may affect the difficulty for other classmates or external senders to reach their accounts. The new usernames could be more difficult to access as compared to names, but it is possible for spammers to access databases of student IDs.
Since the username change was abruptly made while students were away, many of them came back to a shocking confusion.
“On the first day a lot of people had trouble logging in because they just didn’t understand the change,” senior Chloe Wang said.
The change is not only affecting students, but also the teachers who had to facilitate the change. Ms. Gizelle Ramos, a third grade teacher within CVUSD, mentioned that emails were sent to faculty a few weeks before school started. She, however, still had to dedicate instruction time to teach the young students about security and give additional assignments in order for them to memorize the long IDs.
“I told them, ‘You might not want to put your whole birthday on there anymore because someone could get to your stuff,’” said Ms. Ramos.
The change in usernames has already caused a shift in both learning and fear across the district. In the wake of the abrupt changes, the start of the 2023-24 school year has brought both bewilderment and growing awareness about the cybersecurity implications. As students adapt to this change, it presents an opportunity for discussions on the evolving nature of digital education, underlining the importance of safeguarding virtual identities in an ever-connected world.
