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SURVEY FINDS ONE IN FOUR KIDS HAVE TRIED HACKING. |
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Despite 78% agreeing that it is wrong, one in four of UK’s children have tried their hand at hacking into others’ Facebook accounts mostly by surreptitiously using the victims passwords– that is the stark finding of a survey released this week. The study of 1,000 youngsters from London and 150 from Cumbria found that although 27% were doing so from the relatively safe confines of their bedrooms, whilst other offenders are utilising computers in Internet Cafés (22%), the ICT suite at school (21%), or a friend’s machine (19%). The most common reason was for fun (46%) however 21% aimed to cause disruption.
It’s not all one-sided though, as the kids revealed they’d also become victims themselves, with over a third having had either their Facebook or email account hacked.
Conducted by IT security experts Tufin Technologies in conjunction with Cumbria Constabulary, the survey surprisingly revealed that the Cumbrian children with hacking habits were much younger than their city counterparts, with 78% having done so before their 13th birthday – in London 44% were under 16 with only 16% of these yet to enter their teens.
“What this survey starkly highlights is that hacking into personal online accounts whether email or Facebook can be child’s play if users do not protect their own passwords. It illustrates the importance of keeping your passwords strong, secure and changing them regularly to help protect your accounts from unscrupulous people of all ages.” Advised Cumbria Constabulary’s Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde.
“Only 53% of the children surveyed felt that hacking (i.e. using someone else’s account) was illegal which shows that there is a real need to educate youngsters to the dangers both in order to deter them from trying it and also so that they know how to protect their own accounts. Hacking is illegal and we need to ensure everyone understands that,” Hyde concluded.
Here are a few tips to keep your online accounts safe from hackers:
1. Install security software: anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall
2. Never disclose passwords or respond to emails that ask us for this information
3. Vary your user name and passwords between sites. That way if one account is compromised it can limit the damage of others being breached
4. Untick ‘remember me’ boxes for user name and passwords, especially for email accounts, online banking, social media websites etc. if your computer is used by other members of the household – and therefore possibly their friends
5. Be careful what you talk about in chat rooms, you never know who you’re talking to or who’s listening in. Someone with an ulterior motive could be gathering information spanning many months that individually tells you nothing but pieced together provides a complete picture
6. Periodically change your username and password, immediately if you suspect someone may know it.
7. Protect yourself against eavesdroppers and freeloaders by using encryption on your wireless network
8. Use a password manager such as Password Safe by Bruce Schneier (http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/ ) |
