Children are hacking their own schools for fun, warns the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)Children are hacking their own schools for fun, warns the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
It says the majority of so-called "insider" cyber attacks and data breaches in education settings - meaning they have been carried out by someone with access to internal systems - originate with students.
Maybe they've confused 'insider' with inmate..."What starts out as a dare, a challenge, a bit of fun in a school setting can ultimately lead to children taking part in damaging attacks on organisations or critical infrastructure,"
Ed Rooney Heather Toomey, Principal Cyber Specialist at the ICO.
In one incident- the BBC breathlessly reports- a seven-year-old was involved in a data breach and subsequently referred to the National Crime Agency's Cyber Choices programme to help them understand the seriousness of their actions.
The ICO did not give details on the nature of that breach.
I bet they didn't ... but apparently the little chap is very popular. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.
In another incident three Year 11 students aged 15 or 16 unlawfully accessed school databases containing the personal information of more than 1,400 students.
Since 2022, the ICO has investigated 215 hacks and breaches originating from inside education settings and says 57% were carried out by children. "But Fifteen years from now, when they look back on the ruin their lives have become, they are gonna remember Heather Toomey."
As one IT security expert put it "It's Reefer Madness, IT edition."
Another commented: "I wouldn't trust these people to sit the right way on a toilet"