The teenage hackers who’ve been given a second chance
April 12, 2019 · By Chris Quevatre for www.bbc.com
Step inside the offices of Bluescreen and you’ll find some of the UK’s most talented young hackers, dragged from a world of crime to fight for the other side.
These computer experts have swapped the confines of their bedrooms for a fairly ordinary looking cyber-security company in Plymouth.
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.
Jack stole personal information from thousands of people
When Jack was 19 years old, the police sent five squad cars, a tech team and a riot van to his home.
“It was about 08:10 in the morning. I’d had the most awful night’s sleep and I’d just started watching The Lion King.
“It didn’t even get past the intro before my bedroom door flew open and 10 police officers came in to arrest me.
“I was not expecting that on any day of my life.”
The police were there for a good reason: when he was 16, Jack had stolen personal information from about 1,000 people.
He told police he’d never had any intention of using it for his own gain; to him, it was just an intellectual exercise.
Stories like this are not uncommon at Bluescreen IT, which 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.
Cameron launched cyber attacks, and was caught by the National Crime Agency
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.
“Up to that point my biggest worry was that I hadn’t done my maths homework,” he said.
“I was walking to school when I heard my name being called. I turned round and there was a man in a suit walking behind me.
“Then I heard him say my name louder, so I turned around and said ‘yeah?’ and that’s when he told me I was under arrest.
“I turned around and there were five more officers spread out across the grass.
“I just didn’t realise that what I’d done was that serious. It was all just one big joke – messing around – it never seemed like I was actually causing any real harm. I soon found out how serious it was.”
“Grey hat hackers” like Jack and Cameron are seen as having committed their crimes for reasons that weren’t to do with personal gain or cyber-terrorism. Sometimes it might have been a practical joke, or perhaps the motive was to launch a server-debilitating attack.
Now they try to stop others – using the methods they once employed – from wreaking the same havoc.
Hackers’ hats
White hat hackers – These are the nice guys of the hacking world. They know what they’re doing and they use their talents for good, such as getting rid of viruses or legitimately testing the security systems of companies and governments.
Black hat hackers – The bad guys. They’re the ones who steal your bank details and sell them on the dark web. They usually hack for personal gain, although it could be some form of cyber-espionage or protest.
Grey hat hackers – Somewhere in between. They might hack a company without permission, only to point out the flaws without exploiting them. What they’re doing is still illegal.
The route into a life of hacking isn’t always the same, but a lot of the stories are similar, and they often start with gaming.
When he was younger, Cameron liked to tinker with things to see how they worked.
“I didn’t like my high scores being beaten in video games – I always had to be the best at them.”
He started making “mods” to video games – changes to the code that enabled him to get higher scores – which he said led him to online forums, and then darker areas of the internet.
“I ended up launching cyber attacks, and was later caught by the National Crime Agency,” Cameron said.
