Teens arrested in London preschool ransomware attack London cops on Tuesday arrested two teenagers on suspicion of computer misuse and blackmail following a ransomware attack on a chain of London preschools. London's Metropolitan Police said the two men, both aged 17, were taken into custody during an operation at residential properties in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. The …
That would have garnered widespread approval and worked in the old days but I fear we've now become too liberal with each generation gradually becoming more feckless than the previous to even think of such a thing. Although they did it, it's not the poor little darlings' fault....they were sent home from school during Covid, they have ADHD and anxiety, they need support not punishment, it's a cry for help.....etc. etc. etc.
Ahh the good old days, when the previous generations hadn't filled the entire earth with endocrine disrupting chemicals that messes up hormonal systems, they're also now getting things like colon cancer (previously only really seen in older age) because of all of the dodgy chemicals we lace food with, and a year on year rise in auto-immune diseases. Damn them for having ADHD and Anxiety!!
And even other criminal groups found it disgusting. That's saying something.
In other news, complaint registered on the 25th of September, arrests made on October 7th. That is quite the quick action on the part of the police. Well done.
Now chain them to a fucking huge ball of iron in a stone quarry and have them break rocks for the next twenty years.
You do not touch the children. Period.
"You do not touch the children. Period."
While a fully agree, it's worth noting that at 17, the criminals are also legally children. Unless they are tried as adults (possible, but would be a special case), they will start their sentences in a Young Offenders place, only being transferred to "real" prison" once they turn 18. In this case, I hope they get a maximum available sentence with little to no "remission".
.. but some of those values are negative.
The world would be better off without them.
That said, the childcare industry is one of the new generation of monetization evil exploitation.. whatever it is that MBAs think is a desirable future.
If they hadnt used the children as leverage, I would consider it similar to trying to extort telemarketers..
At the current level of IT neglect, it’s only a matter of time before we see headlines like “Cat Hacks Supermarket Network to Get Its Treats.”
Security across much of the industry has decayed so badly that skill is no longer required. Credentials are hard-coded, ports are wide open, and backups are stored on the same drive as production - all protected by the password - literally.
Boards keep repeating “cybersecurity is our top priority” while outsourcing everything to the cheapest bidder and hoping for the best. Nobody maintains anything until it breaks.
Hey, school administrators, why was all this info being kept in a computer? When I was in kindergarten through junior high, we kids didn't have photos of us taken and kept on file. What information the schools did have on us and our parents was kept in paper files, which were kept locked-up when not in use.
"Because we have a comprehensive, integrated computerised student management system."
Why do you have a comprehensive, integrated computerised student management system?
"Because we have a comprehensive, integrated computerised student management system."
When you are doing an art project with your child at home, and you need to cut some construction paper, which thing do you use for that: a regular pair of scissors, or a Swiss Army knife with a fork, spoon, nail file, straight and Phillips screwdrivers, tweezers, two cutting blades, miniature saw, bottle opener, can opener, toothpick, and a tiny pair of scissors?
"A regular pair of scissors."
So, why do you have a comprehensive, integrated computerised student management system?
"Because we have a comprehensive, integrated computerised student management system..."
Because in the good old days if a kid had an allergic reaction to something, they'd probably end up very ill of dead because they didn't know what was wrong.
In the good old days, if the school coach / bus broke down, no one would know what the fuck was going on.
In the good old days, random people could walk off the street and do what the fuck they wanted.
* Allergies: if a kid is allergic to, say, oranges, knows they are allergic to oranges, is at school, accidentally eats something containing oranges, and falls down in a fit, a computer file (or paper record) saying, "Jack Barlowe is allergic to oranges" will not help any first-aiders save Jack. It won't even help the medtechs save Jack, as there is not a specific thing to counter "allergy to oranges" (bee sting allergies have a specific drug). The medtechs will recognise the symptoms of *an* allergic reaction, will treat the symptoms, and might, or might not save Jack (if he's majorly suffocating, he'll probably die before the medtechs arrive).
* Coach/bus breakdown: before there were cellphones, we had, back in the old days, a thing called "two-way radio", which the coaches/buses were equipped with.
* "In the good old days, random people could walk off the street and do what the fuck they wanted": at my high school, we had (armed) Officer Roger Greenfield to deal with any serious threats.
* "Ill of dead": yes, if you get a case of the deads, it will make you ill.
Age 17, we took down the school Pet lab. We were exploring different poke addresses and stumbled upon the raster timing register, or something. If you poke it something wrong, the screen glitches out. If you poke it the right value, it goes back to normal (and don’t have to reset it). Best of all: if you poke it a series of random numbers, the screen goes berserk!
So it’s a simple one-line repeating program (on an endless loop) and the screen spazzes out continuously. So, at lunchtime the lab cleared out, and inside 5 minutes every lab terminal is running. We shut the door and walk away.
Later on, Mr. Farmer (business education teacher) opens the door and the entire lab is filled with smoke, and every single Pet is glitching out massively. In a panic he hits the breaker and shuts down the lab for a few days, until the Pet technician can come appraise the damage.
Weird thing, though. Every single terminal is working 100%! And as far as we know, Farmer never figured it out.
(This isn’t necessarily a confession, it could also just be a tall-tale.)
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