The Kids Love The Hacking
I just finished reading about an interesting survey focused on the internet habits of teenagers and the bad decisions they make in these modern times. More directly, we’re talking about internet crime. Big surprise there, I know, since this is a blog about internet security and what-not. At any rate, it turns out kids are just as irresponsible with the internet as they are with anything else.
Two thirds of teens polled in this survey of 4,000 high-schoolers aged 15-18 said they had tried to hack into friends social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter and various Instant Messenging platforms. Again, big surprise there. I was involved in the early days of AOL and spent plenty of time doing things that weren’t exactly legal, but not totally illegal simply for the fact that the laws hadn’t really been written since the technology was still so new. So, yes, I tried (and succeeded) in “hacking” into friends AOL accounts. Some of my “friends” even went on to create AOHELL, which, as I understand, made for a much more exciting experience online.
But let’s be honest, this isn’t hacking. This is guessing passwords. Using tools that are easy to locate on the internet isn’t hacking either. It’s knowing where to find stuff. What these high-schoolers is more like the adolescent-style vandalism of high-tech crime.
More interestingly, 17% claim to have “advanced technical knowledge,” although a certain number of those who do should be disregarded simply on the fact that they’re kids and they’re not always honest. I know I claimed to have advanced technical knowledge of things in this realm a good 15 years ago, when I didn’t know a single thing about it!
All in all, I don’t think this survey shows anything too alarming. We all know kids push the envelope; that’s why the teenage years can be so difficult for parents and kids alike. But it might not be a bad idea to monitor your kids internet use, just to make sure they’re not delving a bit too deeply into the seedy, virtual underbelly of the internet.
