'jeopardy!' Winner Could Get Prison For Sneaking Into Emails

Shula

Well-Known Member



In this Oct. 2012 photo, Stephanie Jass of Tecumseh, Mich., poses at Adrian College in Adrian, Mich. The former "Jeopardy!" winner has been charged with illegally accessing co-workers' email accounts at a small Michigan college. (Mike Dickie/The Daily Telegram via AP)

ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) — A seven-time "Jeopardy!" winner who taught history at a small Michigan college faces up to five years in prison for sneaking into the email accounts of other professors, administrators and students.

Stephanie Jass, who taught at Adrian College in southern Michigan, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Lenawee Circuit Court to a charge of unauthorized computer access. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 20.

Authorities said Jass logged into other people's email accounts without permission over a four-day period last year after the college reset everyone's passwords and assigned everyone the same temporary password. Another professor learned what Jass had done and told school officials.

State police wrote in a report that the professor told a detective that Jass had a document that listed "notes and comments and problems" of faculty members, according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

The 48-year-old Jass, of Tecumseh, was later fired.

"Privacy rights are a fundamental principle of our American democracy and Adrian College stands with those who protect these rights," the school said after Wednesday's plea.

Jass' seven-episode "Jeopardy!" winning streak in 2012 was a record at the time for a female contestant. It was later broken.

Defense attorney Raymond Correll said in court Wednesday that he intends to seek a delayed sentence which would push back Jass' sentencing to see how she follows bond conditions set by a judge, according to the Daily Telegram of Adrian.
 

Shula

Well-Known Member
I normally don't post threads too much but this made me think of the clarinet player with the narc girlfriend who ruined his chances email snooping. This chick may be getting jail time; make sure the other one gets it, too.

This so irritating to me! Why are these people so doggone nosy? Like why? Don't you have pressing issues in your own life that should be keeping you out of everybody else's business? Did I give birth to you? Do I have any sort of relationship with you that gives me any measure of responsibility? Then, I don't care. Good luck. Imagine all the peace we could have if certain folks just minded their own business. Y'all would get so tired of #winning, lol. I promise you. Ugh.
 

Farida

Well-Known Member
But “How she got caught?” is the question.

I shole hope she didn’t caught from running her mouth. That’s the kind of info to take to the grave.
She either told someone or she saved that document about professor’s problems on their shared drives at work.

I filed a complaint against my employer and I used some documents they saved on our shared drives as evidence. You’d be shocked to see what people are dumb enough to save on shared drives that the entire office can acccess.
 

LiftedUp

Well-Known Member
Right! Not only did they assign everyone the same password, they then tell everyone they all have the same password? How dumb.

At my last job, they began using a new system for us to use to check our work history, salary history etc at the company. Everyone's default password was their dob. I changed mine immediately upon getting the email. A couple of days later my coworker asked me if I changed my pw because she couldn't get in my account o_O.

Jail time is a bit extreme but I'm happy that she got fired. This is unacceptable.
 

Chinagem

Well-Known Member
At my last job, they began using a new system for us to use to check our work history, salary history etc at the company. Everyone's default password was their dob. I changed mine immediately upon getting the email. A couple of days later my coworker asked me if I changed my pw because she couldn't get in my account o_O.

Jail time is a bit extreme but I'm happy that she got fired. This is unacceptable.

Are you for real?! How dumb can a person be? You mean to tell me she clued you in to the fact that she was trying to invade your privacy?
 

awhyley

Well-Known Member
A couple of days later my coworker asked me if I changed my pw because she couldn't get in my account o_O.
Did you ask her why she was trying to get all up in your bizness? :detective:

Are you for real?! How dumb can a person be? You mean to tell me she clued you in to the fact that she was trying to invade your privacy?

Exactly. And I doubt that OP was the only one.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
At my last job, they began using a new system for us to use to check our work history, salary history etc at the company. Everyone's default password was their dob. I changed mine immediately upon getting the email. A couple of days later my coworker asked me if I changed my pw because she couldn't get in my account o_O.

Jail time is a bit extreme but I'm happy that she got fired. This is unacceptable.

:dighole:

What did you say?! What did you do?! Was/Is she white???
 

Shula

Well-Known Member
How is this a crime? She didn’t hack anything, she just... signed in. The idiots in IT are the ones who gave everyone the same temp password. They breached everyone’s privacy.

I personally feel like if it' s not your personal email, written to you, you have breached my privacy. If she did this to a physical mailbox, it's a felony. I'm still stuck on how people get to be this nosy and if they would feel the same if the tables were turned? I just went back to work from a medical leave of absence and deliberately did not change the 50-11 passwords on everything, including email. It never occurred to me that you can't trust grown folks that have their very own email boxes to tend to, lol. Fortunately, I only handle business email appropriately but jeez.
 

LiftedUp

Well-Known Member
Are you for real?! How dumb can a person be? You mean to tell me she clued you in to the fact that she was trying to invade your privacy?

Yup.
Did you ask her why she was trying to get all up in your bizness? :detective:

.

Nope I just said yes and walked away.
Say what now?!!! For the sheer brazenness, I have to report you and now you need to figure out how you're gonna feed your kids. There is nothing that could've possibly benefitted you to explain her creeping in your email, behind your back at that.

I was taken aback but figured it wasn't worth reporting *shrug*
:dighole:

What did you say?! What did you do?! Was/Is she white???
I just said yes and walked away. I think it changed it again to something more difficult for good measure.

She was mixed.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
I personally feel like if it' s not your personal email, written to you, you have breached my privacy. If she did this to a physical mailbox, it's a felony. I'm still stuck on how people get to be this nosy and if they would feel the same if the tables were turned? I just went back to work from a medical leave of absence and deliberately did not change the 50-11 passwords on everything, including email. It never occurred to me that you can't trust grown folks that have their very own email boxes to tend to, lol. Fortunately, I only handle business email appropriately but jeez.

You’ve made it clear that you don’t like nosy people, but being nosy, in essence, isn’t a crime. What she did was wrong and unprofessional, but I’m trying to figure out what she did that made it criminal. I’m guessing it was a violation of some technology usage agreement she signed with her employer, I don’t know. But she didn’t hack into those emails, IT basically gave everyone each other’s passwords, and I suppose the honor system was supposed to protect everyone’s privacy.
 

RocStar

Well-Known Member
I personally feel like if it' s not your personal email, written to you, you have breached my privacy. If she did this to a physical mailbox, it's a felony. I'm still stuck on how people get to be this nosy and if they would feel the same if the tables were turned? I just went back to work from a medical leave of absence and deliberately did not change the 50-11 passwords on everything, including email. It never occurred to me that you can't trust grown folks that have their very own email boxes to tend to, lol. Fortunately, I only handle business email appropriately but jeez.

If you are using your company's email, computer, network, etc., you should have no expectation that anything is private...it all belongs to the company (in most cases).
 

Shula

Well-Known Member
You’ve made it clear that you don’t like nosy people, but being nosy, in essence, isn’t a crime. What she did was wrong and unprofessional, but I’m trying to figure out what she did that made it criminal. I’m guessing it was a violation of some technology usage agreement she signed with her employer, I don’t know. But she didn’t hack into those emails, IT basically gave everyone each other’s passwords, and I suppose the honor system was supposed to protect everyone’s privacy.


I get that but technically you don't have to "hack" a physical envelope either. Simply accessing/opening something, not addressed to you (in general) is a crime. You're probably right on a tech violation with that fine print of 5 million words I (most folks) never read.

My daughter's have a white friend that comes over. Good kid, love her to pieces, but every time she needs a spoon or a glass, she legit goes in every single drawer and cabinet in my kitchen....while we are all watching her with a little smile on her face the whole time. Irks the heck of out of me, lol. Some folks are just different I guess. One white friend wouldn't even hide that she would look thru my mail. Honestly, I wouldn't get the person in trouble at work if I was cool with them to any degree, but I'm gonna let you know and we ain't cool no more.
 
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Shula

Well-Known Member
If you are using your company's email, computer, network, etc., you should have no expectation that anything is private...it all belongs to the company (in most cases).



To the company, not the co-worker.
I understand this which is why I said I keep mine strictly professional. However, I'm assuming the right to go thru my email belongs to the folks in authority, not nosy *** Susan that has nothing better to do on lunch in the cubicle across from me. I promise my life is exciting enough without having the need to worry about what is in everybody else's email box. My manager emails 50 things I don't care about or aren't that important errday. I don't have time to read mine and Susie's in the next cubicle.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
I get that but technically you don't have to "hack" a physical envelope either. Simply accessing/opening something, not addressed to you (in general) is a crime. You're probably right on a tech violation with that fine print of 5 million words I (most folks) never read.

This comparison is off because, email is not protected under the same federal laws as physical mail (USPS). So simply opening an email not addressed to you, to my knowledge, isn’t legally equivalent to opening a piece of mail that isn’t your own.

The only criminal act I know of directly involving email access is hacking. In this case, she was just given the password to multiple email addresses.


My daughter's have a white friend that comes over. Good kid, love her to pieces, but every time she needs a spoon or a glass, she legit goes in every single drawer and cabinet in my kitchen....while we are all watching her with a little smile on her face the whole time. Irks the heck of out of me, lol. Some folks are just different I guess. One white friend wouldn't even hide that she would look thru my mail. Honestly, I wouldn't get the person in trouble at work if I was cool with them to any degree, but I'm gonna let you know and we ain't cool no more.

White people, from the young to the old, just don’t have any boundaries. It’s beyond just plain nosy. They think they have a right to everything.
 

Shula

Well-Known Member
I agree. They need to get cracking because all of our laws governing the Internet and the digital world are leagues behind. They are just getting their act together on revenge porn. Zuckerberg being grilled by old men who still don't know what AOL dial up is a good way to show that these areas need attention. I hear you about the comparison being off but if a person's name is not on the email...I'm trusting you to be an ethical person of integrity and move along. Why is that so hard for some folks? And honestly, how many people who would do this would be completely at ease with someone going through their mail without permission? If you don't like it, don't do it. Personally for me, an act does not have to explicitly criminal, esp in this corrupt country where they bend the laws for whatever their end game is, to be bad. But I know I can be kind of rigid abut these things. It reminds of the whole Hilary #butheremails nonsense. Just came out a couple of days ago that Comey, the man himself, was guilty of the same thing but at least Hilary had her own private servers. Manafort's techniques were to save emails as drafts and everybody who needed access had the password so nothing was sent. And Trump's lawyer used What's App, lol. I know this kind of Off Topic but life in general would be so much better if people decided to be decent human beings every day. I should start planting stuff in email that will hurt feelings and hashtag it #igottimetoday. Lol




This comparison is off because, email is not protected under the same federal laws as physical mail (USPS). So simply opening an email not addressed to you, to my knowledge, isn’t legally equivalent to opening a piece of mail that isn’t your own.

The only criminal act I know of directly involving email access is hacking. In this case, she was just given the password to multiple email addresses.




White people, from the young to the old, just don’t have any boundaries. It’s beyond just plain nosy. They think they have a right to everything.
 

Farida

Well-Known Member
At my last job, they began using a new system for us to use to check our work history, salary history etc at the company. Everyone's default password was their dob. I changed mine immediately upon getting the email. A couple of days later my coworker asked me if I changed my pw because she couldn't get in my account o_O.

Jail time is a bit extreme but I'm happy that she got fired. This is unacceptable.
You’ve made it clear that you don’t like nosy people, but being nosy, in essence, isn’t a crime. What she did was wrong and unprofessional, but I’m trying to figure out what she did that made it criminal. I’m guessing it was a violation of some technology usage agreement she signed with her employer, I don’t know. But she didn’t hack into those emails, IT basically gave everyone each other’s passwords, and I suppose the honor system was supposed to protect everyone’s privacy.
it may be state law and/or FERPA
 

2Cute!

Well-Known Member
She either told someone or she saved that document about professor’s problems on their shared drives at work.

I filed a complaint against my employer and I used some documents they saved on our shared drives as evidence. You’d be shocked to see what people are dumb enough to save on shared drives that the entire office can acccess.

The bolded reminded me of a partner at a firm that I worked at. He saved what appeared to be a journal on a shared drive. He would write about his ex wife who ended up dating someone else before their divorce was final.

He talked about her riding on the back of her new man’s motorcycle with her hair, “blowing in the wind.” I mean, what he wrote and how he described her was like he just could not get over their relationship. It was so odd.

Why would you document that stuff and keep it at work?

I kept my distance after that because he seemed unstable.
 

Lute

Well-Known Member
The tactic she used is a form of hacking they call it "brute force". Just consistently guessing (trial and error) the password until you get it right. Fortunately for her she got it on the first or first few tries. Her login into another account is considered to be a "security breach".


When IT first creates an account, they always give the default password and ask the user to change it. You be surprised how often staff doesn't change their password or change it to something way simpler and common for example "CompanyName123"

At my last tech job I can count on my fingers on how many passwords were like this.

She'll probably go to white collar jail. If there is one.
 
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Farida

Well-Known Member
The bolded reminded me of a partner at a firm that I worked at. He saved what appeared to be a journal on a shared drive. He would write about his ex wife who ended up dating someone else before their divorce was final.

He talked about her riding on the back of her new man’s motorcycle with her hair, “blowing in the wind.” I mean, what he wrote and how he described her was like he just could not get over their relationship. It was so odd.

Why would you document that stuff and keep it at work?

I kept my distance after that because he seemed unstable.
People save porn too. Like WTH?
 
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