http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5412939.html

You certainly can place blame on this kid for being a dirt bag that he is but as these types of crimes happen more and more often I can't help but get angry with the companies who hold this type of information and don't have a solid means of monitoring their security.

Yes, yes I know that'* why they call it hacking but as this type of crime is on the increase there should be some accountability on the part of these companies to look at their security measures and look for possible access violations each and every day.

I am responsible for several sensitive pieces of equipment on my companies network and I can tell you each and every day who is on, who has been on and what they are and were doing.

I get the impression this kid has been doing this for some time which just baffles me that he got away with it the first time.

What is really a shame is that he didn't put his talents to better use. If I had had that kind of talent at his age I certainly wouldn't be working a regular 8 hr a day job

DAMN sure wouldn't have to worry about making a living...............honestly!!!!!!!!

yeah my company'* software dept got hit up HARD today.....

Aye.. I know what that kid is into. Not pretty ****. I used to be like him last year. It is a very deep, dark world out there in that business. Lucky for me, I quit while I was ahead..

dbeast: I'm sorry, but you wouldn't be. Nobody wants a teenager protecting their systems. They want adults doing it. There isn't much they can do as far as work, except at their school [I have looked into this, and next year I may be apart of this since three of their techs graduated this year]. IMO this is pretty much how it works, unfortunately. Either you work like a regular person, or you turn out like that kid stealing Credit Cards and other various personal identity items. And you know what? It isn't hard! There are a LOT of companies that don't watch their information well enough. So who'* fault is it really?

Oh yeah, and everyone needs to be corrected.. hacker and cracker are two different things.

Hacker: A slang term for a computer enthusiast. Among professional programmers, the term hacker implies an amateur or a programmer who lacks formal training. Depending on how it used, the term can be either complimentary or derogatory, although it is developing an increasingly derogatory connotation. The pejorative sense of hacker is becoming more prominent largely because the popular press has co-opted the term to refer to individuals who gain unauthorised access to computer systems for the purpose of stealing and corrupting data. Hackers, themselves, maintain that the proper term for such individuals is cracker. [added by me] A hacker is also someone who finds security holes in software, and reports it to the developer and/or owner. You know who writes anti-virus software? Hackers. They find security holes before the crackers do, and write software to protect against viruses, trojans, worms, etc.. [/added by me]

Cracker: An individual who attempts to gain unauthorised access to a computer system. These individuals are often malicious and have many means at their disposal for breaking into a system. Crackers often like to describe themselves as hackers. Cracking does not usually involve some mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance but rather persistence and repetition of a handful of fairly well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of target systems.


-justin

That would have been22 yrs ago.

I could/would have refined the knowledge and put to making an honest living,not stealing SS#'* and personal info.

People have choices to make in life and that young man made the wrong ones. He could have applied himself in the right direction and really made something of himself instead of being branded as a "Cybercriminal". Now when and if he is charged in the investigation,it will be probably be next to impossible for him to get a job in a computer/IT field.

It'* too bad some of the the really bright kids that have a gift and a promising future turn to things like this out of boredom or the lack of challenges in their daily lives