15-Year-Old Arrested For Hacking 259 Companies 153
An anonymous reader writes "Austrian police have arrested a 15-year-old student suspected of hacking into 259 companies across the span of three months. Authorities allege the suspect scanned the Internet for vulnerabilities and bugs in websites and databases that he could then exploit. As soon as he was questioned, the young boy confessed to the attacks, according to Austria's Federal Criminal Police Office (BMI)."
Re:Security blanket (Score:5, Interesting)
A 15 year old most likely is not mature enough to have that level of understanding.
Disregarding his age, anyone would fall into the same trap. Dip your feet in the water, and don't get caught. Go a little further, and still remain undetected. Maybe you get detected next time, but they can't find you. All from the psychologically safe bedroom/basement instead of getting in your car (which a 15 year old in Austria may not be allowed to do).
Once you truly understand how the network works, and you're writing your own tools, you understand that the safest place you can be is in public, away from anything personal including hotel reservations. But that also has to include CCTV or other surveillance. Until then, the comfort zone of "home" makes you feel you can not get caught. The illusion of safety when you are at your most vulnerable. Especially when repeated attacks come from the same place.
Disclaimer: I'm not a white hat, nor a black hat, nor an any hat. But I have read a lot about people and what makes them do stupid things.