A youth is in custody following a lockdown at a Richmond high school Tuesday afternoon.
According to police, their investigation was launched after a series of WIFI Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) spoofing incidents were reported at Robert Alexander McMath Secondary School starting on Monday afternoon.
A WIFI SSID spoof tricks wireless users into believing their network is secure. Instead, a phony Access Point (AP) with someone else’s SSID is set up, which allows them to launch attacks with corrupted images or malware, as well as gain access to personal information and logins.
It quickly escalated into a full investigation and the school being locked down on Tuesday.
Richmond Mounties say they “conducted a comprehensive safety assessment along with the Richmond School District.”
“Based on this assessment, a decision was made to hold and secure the school,” Richmond RCMP Corp. Dennis Hwang said in a statement.
“As the investigation remains active and ongoing, the nature and specifics surrounding the threat will not be disclosed.”
The lockdown was lifted just before 3 p.m. on Tuesday and although police said the youth in custody was picked up on school grounds, they would not say if he was a student at the school.