British teens hack for cash

 

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Posted on 3 Apr 2009 at 12:18

A third of British teens are tempted to hack into people's PCs to steal money. Two out of five teenagers have admitted breaking into someone else's account to look at their bank details, according to research from Trend Micro.

The security company warned that a "good proportion" of those individuals have used those bank details to steal money. It claimed that hacking appeals to young people because it is a "trendy crime" and it's what they talk about at school.

"There's always been that geek chic about being a hacker," said Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro. He added that hacking has become increasingly popular among young people because it is low risk and high return. "You don't have to expose yourself and you don't have to see your victim. I still think kids are very morally driven, and if they actually had to see the person and lift the wallet out of the purse, they would find it a lot more difficult than committing online crime."

Trend Micro polled 500 teenagers to discover how they perceive online crime. Over one in 10 said that they thought it was cool or funny to pretend to be someone else online, while one in seven 12 to 13 year-olds have done this.

Boys are almost twice as likely as girls to access someone else's social networking profile. Girls, meanwhile, are more likely than boys to access other people's bank accounts without the owner knowing. Trend Micro said that most of the victims were people who the teenagers knew. It warned that the easiest way for children to access such details is by guessing passwords.

"We're far too free with the information that we give out online. Most of us share all the information needed to guess our passwords," said Ferguson. "A good rule of thumb is not to give out information on social networking sites that you wouldn't give to a stranger on the phone."

Trend Micro also blamed parents for their children's reckless behaviour online. It said that one in three parents also admitted that they themselves had hacked into another person's bank, email or social networking account.

The company warned that, with the Easter break coming up, young people will be spending a large amount of time online. This presents dangers to other internet users.

"In the past, we've seen a large increase in this kind of behaviour in holiday periods," said Ferguson. "Parents need to ensure they lead by example at all times, clearly but appropriately lay down some simple family guidelines and make sure they oversee the online activity without being obviously intrusive."

There are measures you can take to make sure that your child doesn't turn to online crime to make a quick buck. Keep all computers in common areas, agree time limits for your kids' internet use and encourage children to be respectful of others.

In order to keep yourself or your children safe from hackers, make sure you keep your operating system up to date, use multiple passwords that aren't obvious and install security software including an anti-virus program and a firewall.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota