Top tip, hacker newbs: Don't use the same Skype ID for IoT bot herding and job ads An alleged teenage tearaway with a passion for building botnets was caught using the same Skype ID he used for hacking activities when applying for jobs. Researchers at NewSky Security claim they spotted the 13-year-old's Skype name on job ad message boards and a website called Daddyhackingteam, which hosts numerous code …
It's hard not to find pr0n on the intertoobz, so I doubt that's his motivation. Anybody who can ferret out the tools on github can find pornhub. It's not hard (although after you watch pornhub for a while it might become so).
Since the article makes clear that he thought about the age of criminal responsibility, I'd guess one of two motives.
1) Low self-esteem, and/or getting bullied, and/or desperate for sex and being rejected. So wanted some kewl h4x0r creds to make him look better.
2) Wants to monetize the cams he takes over by selling the feeds as pr0n.
Option 2 seems less likely because few cams are positioned for that (unless they already are being used to produce pr0n.
Which brings us back to option 1, the standard skiddy motivation. He's in need of a BJ.
I know it can be hard to keep tabs on kids, but if the parents were paying more attention it might be more obvious to the kid that the things he/she were doing are not okay.
Obviously I don't know the exact circumstances of this individual but I do see a trend to just let kids 'play' with computers without parental oversight.
At 13 I think it would be a bit harsh to come down on the kid with a ton of bricks, but I'd be happy for some reasonable weight to be dropped on the parents. Maybe 20 kg per parent as a starting point.
TBH I'd almost be glad if it were my boy. I tried so hard to get him to do something technical, you know. He said he liked computers and building stuff and technology and robots... enrolled in the local free college when he left school for a BTec in computing and robotic sciences with a side order of A levels in business studies, computing and technical design (or was that some other qualification?) Spent a fortune on books and tools and components for the course.
Anyway, he was there 8 months, did f*** all except play with Lego Mndstorms, then declared he wanted to switch to the hospitality course and become a trolley dolly, He was too far gone to switch and ended up flogging bacon rolls for a rail company.
Such a disappointment.
My daughter, on the other hand, did a degree in psychology but has now totally pwnd the systems of a major credit card company, and they pay her for it too.
Go figure!
Yeah, because kids can always just fly to another country and live on their own... That ranks right up there with hacking = fast typing while 0s and 1s fall down the screen, followed by a picture of a brick wall that's actually on fire. "Uh oh, we've reached their firewall!"
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He hasn't said anything that excludes being 13. ICBW, I think he may be mistaken about the age of criminal responsibility. 13 is the age for personal data to be held by web sites without a lot of user protections, for which reason many services only let 13 and overs join, to avoid the obligations.
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