Sneaky students
More than one in five university and college students have admitted hacking into IT systems, according to new research.
Of these hackers, 40 percent waited until after their 18th birthday to make their first hacking attempt, while 28 percent of 18- 21 year old students who have tried it said it was easy to do, according to Tufin Technologies' research, which was backed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
Despite the relatively high number of students giving hacking a go, 84 percent of the age group said they realise that hacking is wrong, but almost one third said it is ‘cool'.
The survey was carried out among 1,000 college and university students from 5 London-based and 3 northern institutions.
It showed that just over one in three students said that they hacked for fun. More than one in five cited curiosity as their main reason for hacking, while 15 percent said they made money out of their illegal hobby.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study found 37 percent of those surveyed had hacked Facebook accounts, a quarter email accounts and one in ten breached shopping accounts.
While a brazen 39 percent of young hackers have used their own computer, nearly one third have opted to use a university machine, while a near quarter chose an internet café as their hacking location of choice.
The new research builds on a previous study conducted in March among teenagers that found less than one in five found hacking easy, suggesting hackers' skill sets increase during their teenage years. Interestingly both surveys found there is little difference between boys and girls, with both sexes equally adept at hacking.
The new survey also identified 46 percent of students have fallen foul of hacking with either their social network or email breached. Another 41 percent said they had had their passwords to university networks abused by a third party.
"It is clear we have a smart new generation emerging who understand how to get around computer systems - some are doing it just for fun others with slightly more sinister intent! It's imperative that we begin to educate this generation about the good, the bad and the ugly side of the Internet and channel these skills appropriately and legally," said Shaul Efraim, VP of products and business development at Tufin Technologies.
