Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
17th April 2024 Issue no. 701
Your industry news - first
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18 year old responsible for cyber attack on Uber
Uber discovered its computer network had been breached on Thursday, leading the company to take several of its internal communications and engineering systems offline as it investigated the extent of the hack. The breach appeared to have compromised many of Uber’s internal systems, and a person claiming responsibility for the hack sent images of email, cloud storage and code repositories to cybersecurity researchers and The New York Times. The hacker, who provided the screenshots said that he was 18 years old and had been working on his cybersecurity skills for several years.
The fact that this breach was conducted by an 18 year old is interesting in light of new research by International Cyber Expo which suggests that minors are increasingly likely to get involved in cybercrime during the cost of living crisis. Indeed, 40% of parents believe children will turn to cyber crime because of a lack of money during the current cost of living crisis.
Simon Newman, International Cyber Expo Advisory Council Member and CEO of Cyber Resilience Centre for London, adds: “With hacking tools becoming increasingly accessible and affordable on the internet, we have witnessed a rise in ‘script kiddies’; inexperienced hackers who carry out cyber attacks. While ‘kiddies’ do not necessarily refer to the hacker’s age so much as their experience, many have been found to be teenagers. In fact, in the UK the average age of a referral to the National Cyber Crime Unit is just 15 years old. Although law enforcement agencies are working hard to take down the websites and forums that promote hacking, the results of this survey also demonstrate a need for parents/guardians to take an active interest in what their children are doing online to prevent them from falling on the wrong side of the law.”
Other key stats from the research include:
- Over two thirds of parents (68%) agree they will teach their children about online security because they can’t afford to be hacked.
- A further 63% of parents want their children’s schools to do more to educate on cybersecurity awareness when returning to school this September.
- Sixty-two percent of parents believe people will be more vulnerable to hacking with the crisis as people will be more desperate.
This is according to a new survey conducted amongst 600 parents across the UK by Censuswide on behalf of International Cyber Expo, a must-attend annual cybersecurity event created to help people and businesses operate safely online.
14th September 2022