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UK's National Crime Agency Publishes Crazy Cyber-Crime Warning Signs (oomlout.co.uk)
Blacklaw writes: The UK's National Crime Agency, formerly known as the Serious and Organized Crime Agency, has published a list of warning signs that supposedly indicate a child may be heading toward a life of cyber-crime. The list includes late nights and showing any kind of interest at all in programming, even as the UK government pushes coding into the national education curriculum.
Is Your Son a Computer Hacker?
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PORN.
NERD.
soooo much PORN.
PORN.
PORN.
PORN.
PORN.
NEXT!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
"Do they have independent learning material on computing?" I think that in a strange way this fits with the UK initiative to get programming into schools. By making online learning "suspicious" it means that kids will only learn the "proper" way of thinking.
In a way I think that the worst nightmare for traditionalists is if kids start to learn more an more from uncontrolled resources. To a card carrying members of The System they can't think of anything worse than a way for people who won't play by the "rules" to be able to succeed. There are many people who go through life building up a perfect checklist of a resume which includes going to the proper schools. Online learning threatens this to the core.
That should take care of the problem. I'd have opted for "educating" them, but it seems that's hopeless.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
All the rest are signs of normal, intelligent, nerd behavior.
Basically, the UK hates nerds and wants to make sure that no British kid ever grows up to start or get anywhere in an e-business.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
If you actually pull up the article, it has a list of warning signs and then adds:
Many of these are just normal teenage behaviours and don't necessarily suggest a young person is at risk of getting involved in cyber crime. But if a young person is showing several of these signs, try and have a conversation with them about their online activities.
We don't really think there's harm in having a conversation with our kids, do we?
1. Does your restless child dress in parachute pants and mumble about "the gibson" as he glides past on his skateboard
2. Has your child been exposed to, or attempted COBOL or worse, obfuscated C?
3. Have you noticed a startling uptick in mid-nineties electronic music? does your child own more than 3 trenchcoats and a virtually endless supply of wrap-around ray-ban sunglasses?
4. and finally, the worst sign, does your child publically question the need for an asinine laundry list of reasons to convict a minor of thoughtcrime?
Good people go to bed earlier.
>> Are they interested in coding? Do they have independent learning material on computing?
Oh no! my son might be A PROGRAMMER!!!!
From the NCA link, about interest in programming and spending all night online:
Many of these are just normal teenage behaviours and don't necessarily suggest a young person is at risk of getting involved in cyber crime. But if a young person is showing several of these signs, try and have a conversation with them about their online activities.
What exactly am I supposed to be shocked about?
http://dilbert.com/2010-12-13
Dang, I don't know what to do.
My son ticks all those boxes and today. But he's a 1%er in his mid forties, and is the VP of a fortune 500 company.
Should I contact the police or the legal department of his company? Or tell his wife? His mom knows, but she won't do anything.
I have to protect my grandchildren, you know.
"contributes to projects that incorporate or design unbreakable cryptographic algorithms and has repositories for the distribution of the same"
yes? your child is a terrorist
from the "Landover Baptist Church" (hint for the oblivious: this is not a real church): .....
23-Misbehaves at school.
24-Misbehaves at home.
25-Eats goth-related foods. Count Dracula cereal is an example of
this.
26-Drinks blood or expresses an interest in drinking blood. (Vampires
believe this is how to attain Satan. This act is very dangerous and
should be stopped immediately.)
27-Watches cable television or any other corrupted media sources.
(Ask your local church for proper programs that your child may watch.)
28-Plays videos games that contains violence or are of a role-playing
nature.
29-Uses the internet excessively and frequently makes time for the
computer.
30-Makes Satanic symbols and/or violently shakes head to music.
31-Dances to music in a provocative or sexual manner.
32-Expresses an interest in sex.
33-Masturbates.
34-Is homosexual and/or bisexual.
35-Pursues dangerous cult religions. Such include: Satanism,
Scientology, Philosophy, Paganism, Wicca, Hinduism and Buddhism.
36-Wears pins, stickers or anything else that contains these various
phrases: "I'm so gothic, I'm dead", "woe is me", "I'm a goth".
37-Claims to be a goth.
Oh wait a second. The UK list is supposed to be serious!!!
If your children ever found out how lame you are, they'd murder you in your sleep
So I looked over the list, replacing "your child" with myself, and:
Pretty much. I make websites at work, go home, and freelance as a web developer at home.
Given that I'm a web developer, I'm very interested in coding. I have independent learning material on computing and know sites where I can find more material.
Sometimes I go to sleep as late as 1am and then wake up at 6:30am to start my day again.
Given that I work as a web developer (both day job and freelance), I make pretty much all my income from online activities.
Ok, I tend not to be resistant when asked what I do online. So this would be a no.
We don't have a data allowance on our home broadband. I do use most of our mobile account's data allowance, though. So maybe score this as half right.
I have no in-person friends that I see regularly. I just see my immediate family (kids and wife) and a few co-workers.
So I'd score about 5.5 out of 7 on their scale. It sounds like I'm well on my way towards becoming a cyber criminal!
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
If they 'behave' then they can go on parole, under strict supervision, of course. It's the only way to be sure everyone is safe!
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Is your kid a supporter or contributor of a hacking tool known as systemd? I could totally get behind that one.
Even I have pretty much given up on that one.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
I have written to my MP about this. She isn't the best MP in Parliament (known locally as the Chocolate Teapot, as in "as useful as a..."). But she is a scientist, and what the NCA have done is blatant disregard for government policy. I believe she has the ear of some influential people. With any luck she can cause the NCA some pain.
I would encourage any and all Brits to use They Work For You http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ - an easy and quick way to write to your MP, and say what you think (even if you disagree).
"Cock Up Your Beaver" does not mean what you think. This sig is intended to clog filters and annoy do-gooders
Dilbert - the Knack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
If you can't tell me how many people you've seen unable to control their kids in public, but can only imagine how those children are when they're a few years older, doesn't that suggest that the children are in fact better when they're older? That something, unseen by you, is in fact working?
...SOCA says people who think cause trouble.
"That something, unseen by you, is in fact working?"
yeah its called the Juvenile Justice System (or lack of access to kids in that "few years older" bracket)
"Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to program..."
Actually, where I used to SysAdmin, several of the other senior admins were from former "adult" sites (and one dude that worked on a "body modding" site). It seems that these are fairly good places to "cut your teeth" as they often deal with a decent amount of traffic, interesting technology, and they tend to have decent turnover (not necessarily because they're a bad gig, but because many prefer to move to more "socially accepted" jobs).
That's not to say a 14-yr-old should be sysadmin for a hardcore adult site, but for a young person finished school and looking to embark in the world of technology it could be a good job to get some cash and experience if you're not queasy on the content.
Or they might be interested in hacking, security, etc. From the article, two things
help them make the right choices
You were already doing that as their parent, right?
and
There are also a number of organisations to help young people develop cyber skills:
Here, we'll list them below for you. Go on, click on the links. I mean, be trite and sarcastic if you like, but click on the links. TFA is linking to cyber security programs that your kids might be interested in. You know, for programmers and such. So much /facepalm.
Talking, writing, commenting on or been an academic with an interesting in crypto is now heretical in the eyes of the UK security services?
But UK academics having to consider complex backdoors in all future UK product design. Just showing an interest in math, numbers, computers, crypto is now not good....
With UK computer skills are been so legally discouraged will smart staff fly in from the US, Australia, NZ, Canada for tricky next gen projects?
Did the GCHQ not tell the UK gov the value of having a vast pool of generational maths experts with languages, arts, history skills is a really good thing every generation?
Thanks to past quality UK education policy the GCHQ had the expert staff ready to help in Korea, Vietnam, with the Soviet Union, West/East German, French decryption over many decades. The UK got to read everything encrypted in the EU thanks to its own experts. Even all of South America when needed.
Did the US puling out of the Tube Alloys projects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... not show every generation of UK experts that the UK will have to have the domestic skill sets for all possible projects every generation and that any deep commitments to "share" from the US can be revoked.
For the UK to keep up with advancements real thought has to go into encouraging maths, real science, crypto, arts, languages policy for every generation.
Stopping an interest in maths in the UK is about the best gift the UK can give its global competitors.
The UK should be rushing out to teach as much math and real science as possible, not trying to ban it.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Not hard and fast rules.
Coughs, sores and indigestion are warning signs of cancer. Doesn't mean you need a course of chemotherapy if you see these symptoms.
Sit your kids down and have a frank discussion about their porn usage.
;p
You may discover you have common interests.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Good god, I think the UK actually copied that 2001 article! Is that what they consider "accurate and up to date"? 8-}