Slashdot Mirror
Police Refer Teenaged Crackers For 'Second Chance' Jobs at Cyber-Security Company (bbc.co.uk)
This week the BBC reported on teenaged "hackers dragged from a world of crime to fight for the other side" at "a fairly ordinary looking cyber-security company" in southwest England. Bruce66423 shared their report:
Bluescreen employs hackers the authorities have deemed worthy of a second chance, who pit their wits against some of the anonymous online criminals they used to see as brothers in arms... Bluescreen IT has a direct link with the police to find hackers in need of direction. These are young men who have been accused of serious crimes, but instead of being taken through the criminal justice system, they've been given a second chance. About 15 people work in the Security Operations Centre, a handful of whom have been referred to the company as hackers who aren't malicious in nature and are deemed capable of reform...
There's a relaxed atmosphere when you walk into the Security Operations Centre, but it's serious work. Three monitors on the wall detail which of Bluescreen's clients are being attacked, and how serious the threat is. The clients, mostly smaller and medium-sized businesses from around the South West, are given codenames like "Black Mamba" or "Green Starfish" -- usually a colour and an animal... Bluescreen sees itself as a place to develop young people, give them a second chance, and be a haven for those with nowhere else to go. "It makes me really proud when they achieve industry-recognised qualifications," said the company's chief operating officer, Richard Cashmore.
A 16-year-old named Jack stole personal information from about 1,000 people. Years later, when he was 19, "the police sent five squad cars, a tech team and a riot van to his home.... Another employee, Cameron, was arrested on his way to school when he was just 14 years old. "Officers from the National Crime Agency had planned the sting so that Cameron would be out of the house, and unable to destroy his hard drives in the event he heard them coming."
As "apprentices" they start at £650 a month, reports the BBC, but "after five years of experience they could easily be earning close to £50,000 a year."
There's a relaxed atmosphere when you walk into the Security Operations Centre, but it's serious work. Three monitors on the wall detail which of Bluescreen's clients are being attacked, and how serious the threat is. The clients, mostly smaller and medium-sized businesses from around the South West, are given codenames like "Black Mamba" or "Green Starfish" -- usually a colour and an animal... Bluescreen sees itself as a place to develop young people, give them a second chance, and be a haven for those with nowhere else to go. "It makes me really proud when they achieve industry-recognised qualifications," said the company's chief operating officer, Richard Cashmore.
A 16-year-old named Jack stole personal information from about 1,000 people. Years later, when he was 19, "the police sent five squad cars, a tech team and a riot van to his home.... Another employee, Cameron, was arrested on his way to school when he was just 14 years old. "Officers from the National Crime Agency had planned the sting so that Cameron would be out of the house, and unable to destroy his hard drives in the event he heard them coming."
As "apprentices" they start at £650 a month, reports the BBC, but "after five years of experience they could easily be earning close to £50,000 a year."
So basically they're indentured servants, because five years of cyber security experience on top of what they already knew would make them bank on the open market.
That's how you get your slaves. Throw the book at young kids and make them work cheap for you for a decade or more.
This is surely not the same as diverting people convicted of dealing drugs into pharma sales jobs. But why is it not the same?
I was expecting such a play on words somewhere in the comments, and was not disappointed. Conga-rats on even getting the first posting with it even, for what such an achievement is worth. :)
This space unintentionally left blank.
way under Minimum wage to start!
They had bullhorns back before the Reconstruction?
This space unintentionally left blank.
Why is this even "news" ??? This has been going on for decades.
1) That sounds like public private indentured servitude.
2) Hacking without actual harm to others being criminalized was a huge mistake, and it has led to weaker systems.
3) These kids are learning how the man works, and getting underpaid, so they have plenty of incentive to go out and put on a black hat...
We don't say "crackers" any more. In the US, "rural Americans" is the preferred term; elsewhere "agricultural traditionalists" works.
Oh, we're using that made up 'crackers' instead of 'hackers' because we think out ret-conning it to mean something else is better.
Sorry, but 'crackers' was used 20 years after the fact.
As someone who was there at the time, I can assure you that "crackers" was in use, in exaOh, we're using that made up 'crackers' instead of 'hackers' because we think out ret-conning it to mean something else is better.
Sorry, but 'crackers' was used 20 years after the fact.ctly this way, and has been continuously since. It's not a ret-con if was there at the time.
As near as the members of the hacker circle where I hang out have been able to determine, the misuse of hacker (exceptinoally skilled, boundary-pushing, programmer {or whatever - it's not just about software, or even just the default of computers}) for cracker started when an early "security expert" did a session on security risks at a management convention.
Upper management's first exposure to the issue had the "hacker" word on it. Middle management had to adopt it to avoid seeming ignorant of a threat in their area of professional expertise. The business press used the words their customers did. The general press picked it up from the business press, and the rest of the non-technical population from the popular press.
Computer technical experts have since been fighting an uphill battle over this misuse of one of their most cherished technical terms. But it's a classic "language riot", so don't expect it to stop, no matter how lopsided the battle seems.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I'm glad we are at least step ahead of strongarming these people to work for free like the FBI did with Sabu but if we educated people on how the Internet really works; about project Quantum, about fake cell towers, they wouldn't be so stupid in the first place to be labeled "trouble makers". In a way these people are abusing teenager stupidity to get cheap labor.
You really don't get haikus
That one was the worst
Too fat, like an autumn duck
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
From the article:
Just four years after his arrest, Jack is now working at an advanced level, carrying out processes like penetration testing
In other news, prostitutes are now screaming discrimination as another group of criminals get off and actually get paid for penetration testing.
Oh, we're using that made up 'crackers' instead of 'hackers' because we think out ret-conning it to mean something else is better.
Sorry, but 'crackers' was used 20 years after the fact.
As someone who was there at the time, I can assure you that "crackers" was in use, in exactly this way, and has been continuously since. It's not a ret-con if was there at the time.
As near as the members of the hacker circle where I hang out have been able to determine, the misuse of hacker (exceptinoally skilled, boundary-pushing, programmer {or whatever - it's not just about software, or even just the default of computers}) for cracker started when an early "security expert" did a session on security risks at a management convention.
Upper management's first exposure to the issue had the "hacker" word on it. Middle management had to adopt it to avoid seeming ignorant of a threat in their area of professional expertise. The business press used the words their customers did. The general press picked it up from the business press, and the rest of the non-technical population from the popular press.
Computer technical experts have since been fighting an uphill battle over this misuse of one of their most cherished technical terms. But it's a classic "language riot", so don't expect it to stop, no matter how lopsided the battle seems.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Why defend cheap ass companies? Their actions demonstrate clearly that they do not value security - like real dollar value, not cheap talk about value.