15-Year-Old Arrested For Hacking 259 Companies

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)."

Comments

Not hacking

[Anonymous Coward]

nerd voice

Excuuuuse me. The term is 'cracking'.

/ nerd voice

Re:Not hacking

[Tarlus]

The teenager used various hacking tools widely available on the Internet, including software that helped him remain anonymous.

Nothing more than a script kiddie.

Re:Not hacking

[jellomizer]

A real hacker would break into 256 companies, not 259... What was he thinking?
Unless he actually broke into 512 or 1024 companies.

Re:Not hacking

[mcgrew]

Citation? because the AC is correct. I understand how muggles confuse nerd terms, but they've taken OUR word for modifying hardware or writing quick-and-dirty single-use code and we let the muggles mangle the meaning of OUR word! As someone already pointed out, he's not a "hacker", he's a script kiddie. The hackers wrote the code he used for his cyberburglary and cybervandalism.

I never thought I'd see the day when we would be acceptable, let alone the day normal people pretend to be us.

Re:Not hacking

[Nrrqshrr]

He was probably aiming for 1337 companies...

Re:Not hacking

[amRadioHed]

First, you use a made-up word...

Care to give an example of a word that is not made-up?

Re:Not hacking

[treeves]

Well, there are only a few of those. That's why they're 1337. Duh.

Re:Not hacking

[DurendalMac]

I'd say it's more the level of understanding that differentiates. If you get the tools, have no idea how they work, don't care how they work, etc, then you're a skiddie. If you do know, understand, try to, maybe tinker with them on the lower levels, then maybe you're something more.

Re:Not hacking

[DarwinSurvivor]

all words are made up. Muggle is a valid word. It is in the dictionary because people use it.

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/muggle?q=muggle

Re:Not hacking

[Medievalist]

Bruce Perens was addressing a bunch of geeks once and somebody asked him to use the word cracker instead of hacker when referring to computer criminals. Bruce replied "I refuse to use the word cracker because it's insulting to georgian-americans, and will continue to use the phrase computer criminals". I laughed my ass off, but he was right.

Re:Not hacking

[Tarlus]

"Script kiddie" doesn't mean the use of scripts, it's about the attitude embodied in the attack. If the tools are nothing but a means to an end (draining a bank account, blackmailing an executive, etc.) then you're looking at a script kiddie. The fact that tools were used, on its own is not enough to make that call.

I certainly have no qualm with this. That said, I hold that "script kiddie" perfectly fits the description of a 15-year-old who defaces websites and leaks their back-end to the Internet, with probably limited skills. I could be wrong, maybe he's a technical genius who just needs better guidance. Either way, that is a purely pernicious attitude, and while I agree that most web developers/admins deserve this kind of wake-up call, the kid had no greater motive than the enjoyment of stirring the pot under the shroud of anonymity. And that attitude deserves a derogatory name like "script kiddie."

Re:Not hacking

[hellkyng]

Actually I believe he was going for 640 companies broken into, and that really ought to be enough for anyone.

Re:Not hacking

[Anonymous Coward]

because you always use the word muggles incorrectly.

Re:Not hacking

[Securityemo]

For defacement, "asshole" is a much better term regardless of skill level. Moral judgment should be separate from judgment of skill.

Re:Not hacking

[tehcyder]

First, you use a made-up word...

Care to give an example of a word that is not made-up?

God.

Oh, wait...

Re:Not hacking

[Myopic]

I disagree. My understanding is that "hacker" predates "cracker", and that some nerds decided they didn't like the pejorative sense of "hacker", so they adopted it as their own (cf. "nigger") and proffered "cracker" as a pejorative replacement. Most nerds, and all non-nerds, rejected this attempt at redefining the word "hacker", and continued to use it with its original meaning. To this day, that minority of nerds, especially the ones who like rhetorical pugilism, continue to make their specious case on Internet forums.

I offer the Oxford dictionary as a cite: hacker. Note that your preferred definition is given as a secondary, informal definition. Their definition of "cracker" is similar.

Not surprised

[Anonymous Coward]

Austria is a former penal colony. All their citizens are descended from criminals.

script kiddie

[rst123]

Any one else read this as nmap and known vulnerabilities?

Re:script kiddie

[rsmith84]

I was thinking the exact thing. That plus good old hacker-target.com

System Operator arrested

[Ranx]

System Operator arrested for leaving the computer system of the company he worked for vulnerable for attacks by kids. Oh wait...

Re:System Operator arrested

[nschubach]

...or their lawn gnomes stolen for not chaining them down!

Re:System Operator arrested

[TehZorroness]

But do we arrest bankers who keep confidential client information in their house while they are on vacation and leave the back door unlocked so their neighbor can feed their cat? That seems like a closer analogy.

Re:System Operator arrested

[Lunix Nutcase]

No. We don't arrest bankers, silly. We give them golden parachutes.

Re:System Operator arrested

[Opportunist]

We arrest bankers? Huh? Where? Hell, they're completely exempt from any liability as well, they can ruin whole economies and nobody will bother.

Re:System Operator arrested

[ArsenneLupin]

But what if the lawn gnomes then commit mischief elsewhere? Shouldn't the owner be held responsible? Just look at what happened to France, after some sloppy gardener didn't pay attention to his gnome...

Re:Hacking is not a crime.

[kelemvor4]

It's a survival trait.

Right. Just like when I was a kid we used to say "skateboarding is not a crime".... until we got in trouble for it.

Re:Brilliant

[Lunix Nutcase]

Ha ha! Spelling Nazi fail.

8bit hacking

[tom17]

See, the problem was that he is only an 8-bit hacker. He should have stopped at 256 companies or upgraded to 16-bit.

It's the overflows that got him :(

Hollywood would disagree

[betterunixthanunix]

If you actually read 2600 magazine, the scope of the articles fits in with the typical definition of a hacker: someone who likes to tinker with computers and other electronics. There is something of a bias toward computer security, but I have also seen articles about undocumented functions of electronics, technical information about various networking equipment, and so forth.

Hollywood, on the other hand, turned "hacker" into a code word for "computer criminal." No surprises there, given that Hollywood's view of computing is basically the antithesis of what the old school hackers had in mind. Hollywood thinks that computers should only be programmed by licensed professionals, who can be held accountable for the software they write (e.g. deCSS). In Hollywood's view of the world, if you buy a computer that has been programmed to stop you from running your own software (e.g. an iPhone, a PS3, etc.), then defeating those restrictions is criminal behavior -- and they got that codified in the law with the DMCA.

Hack the planet!!1!

[WaffleMonster]

The only thing worse than being hacked by a bored 15 year old is being hacked by someone with an agenda.

I think governments should sponsor public hacking competitions with basic code of ethics rules and immunity from any legal or civil actions. Better than wasting billions "cyber defense".

Re:Security blanket

[b4dc0d3r]

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.

About as dangerous as foot fungus

[alphatel]

If you look at the screenshots of what he defaced, it was default joomla templates on dead websites. If you read the forum he was in, it has about 50 active members of 2000 registered, and he was ranked the 50th best. This kid is about as dangerous as soap. If they even bother to sentence him it would be a joke. He knows nothing of real hacking and we should be thankful that Darwin has weeded him out early.