text: Imran Uddin used a keyboard spying device to hack into university computers and up his exam marks . A student who tried to cheat his way to a better degree by hacking into the university computers and changing his marks has been jailed. Imran Uddin, 25, who was studying science, bought keyboard spying equipment on the internet which he then connected to a number of university computers. Through the software, which recorded key strokes, he was able to find out the passwords that staff were typing in to log in to the computers. He then used those passwords to log on to their accounts himself. After hacking into the university computer system, Uddin changed the marks that he had been given for previous assessments. On one paper, he upped his mark from 57 per cent, a lower second grade, to 73 per cent, a first. He carried out his plot using keyboard ‘shadowing’ devices which look like a USB stick and can be bought for as little as £49 on the internet. He plugged these into the back of a number of staff computers at the University of Birmingham where he was studying. The device records everything which is typed into the keyboard and saves the data. Uddin, from Birmingham, was in his final year of a bio-science course. At the time of the hacking he was expected to achieve a 2:2 degree. He was jailed for four months at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday after admitting six charges which were in breach of the Computer Misuse Act. Sentencing him, Judge James Burbridge said it was unclear why Uddin had tried to change his grades. Judge Burbridge said: ‘For reasons not entirely clear to me, whether it was monetary, or pride, or a desire to outperform others, you decided to cheat and you formed a settled intention to do that. I consider your actions were planned and persistent.’ He warned that Uddin’s behaviour could have undermined public confidence in the degree system. The judge added that he felt compelled to put Uddin behind bars as a ‘deterrence’ to others. Judge Burbridge said: ‘This kind of conduct undermines, or has the potential to undermine, public confidence in the degree system, set up by this university. I have decided I cannot pass a suspended sentence because there needs to be an element of deterrence.’ Uddin was found out after staff discovered the devices when several computers were upgraded on October 7 last year. When they removed the protective casing from the computers in the bio-science building, the spying devices were discovered. Staff then began checking other university computer equipment and a further three spying devices were found. Madhu Rai, prosecuting, said: ‘It is effectively a case where the defendant has hacked into a number of computers at the university where he was studying for a degree in bio-science.’ Miss Rai said one tracker had been attached to a computer in a ‘staff only’ area to obtain the password of employee Christine Chapman, who had access to exam grade software. Uddin (police mugshot, left, and outside court, right), who is married, was yesterday jailed for four months after admitting six breaches to the Computer Misuse Act. Birmingham Crown Court (pictured) heard how Uddin attached a 'shadowing' keyboard device at the back of a number of university computers in order to steal staff passwords . An investigation by university staff revealed that Uddin had changed the marks on five pieces of his coursework. His home was searched by police and analysis of his computer revealed that he had carried out searches for keyboard cheating devices on the online marketplace eBay. Balbir Singh, defending, said Uddin had felt pressure because he was the first person in his family to have gone to university. As a result of the need he felt to succeed, ‘he could not see clearly’, Mr Singh said. He added: ‘It is very unlikely that any other university will touch him after this. This is not a case where he was hopelessly failing and was not going to be able to succeed.’
target: Imran Uddin, 25, used a keyboard spying device to obtain staff passwords .
  Final-year student hacked into exam system and upped his own marks .
  He increased one of his bio-science grades from 57 per cent to 73 per cent .
  Uddin admitted breaking Computer Misuse Act and was jailed for 4 months .