Teenagers Charged With Cybercrimes
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 06/10/2015 10:16 AM
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Do you know who is trying to hack you? It might well be a teenager
A 14-year old boy in Florida was recently arrested and charged with a felony offense for unauthorized access against a computer system. He hacked his schools website by observing his teacher input her password, which was her last name. He didn't do anything serious, just changed the background picture to one of two men kissing.
Another case involved a teenager in California who, along with a buddy, where charged with hacking into the school’s website and changing grades for about 120 students. The school is working with the Cyber Crimes Bureau of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to investigate.
It gets worse.
Out of New Zealand comes a case of a twenty something who along with other young adults in New Zealand, the US and elsewhere, he is accused of running a botnet comprised of 1.3 million hacked computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims’ bank accounts. The case, if convicted, could land the teens in jail for 10 years.
Why are these teens hacking? More than half of a survey responded that it was for a thrill. 86% stated that they weren't worried about being caught. Others just want to prove their skills.
Keep your system, AV software and programs up to date.
Don't click on suspicious links or email attachments.
Don’t provide personal information online, such as your password, financial information, or social security number, unless you are absolutely sure of where you are adn who you are dealing with.
Use strong passwords!
Source: Avast
A 14-year old boy in Florida was recently arrested and charged with a felony offense for unauthorized access against a computer system. He hacked his schools website by observing his teacher input her password, which was her last name. He didn't do anything serious, just changed the background picture to one of two men kissing. Another case involved a teenager in California who, along with a buddy, where charged with hacking into the school’s website and changing grades for about 120 students. The school is working with the Cyber Crimes Bureau of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to investigate.
It gets worse.
Out of New Zealand comes a case of a twenty something who along with other young adults in New Zealand, the US and elsewhere, he is accused of running a botnet comprised of 1.3 million hacked computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims’ bank accounts. The case, if convicted, could land the teens in jail for 10 years.
Why are these teens hacking? More than half of a survey responded that it was for a thrill. 86% stated that they weren't worried about being caught. Others just want to prove their skills.
Keep your system, AV software and programs up to date.
Don't click on suspicious links or email attachments.
Don’t provide personal information online, such as your password, financial information, or social security number, unless you are absolutely sure of where you are adn who you are dealing with.
Use strong passwords!
Source: Avast
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