Children as young as 9 years old launch DDoS attacks on schools
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in
Rise in school cyber crime attacks sparks NCA education drive - National Crime Agency
https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/rise-in-school-cyber-crime-attacks-sparks-nca-education-drive
Nine-year-old kids are launching DDoS attacks against schools
https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/nine-year-old-kids-are-launching-ddos-attacks-against-schools/
DDoS attacks are 'distributed denial of service' attacks that intentionally compromise the availability of web services by overwhelming the resources of the servers and networks running those services with increased traffic. According to the NCCU, the number of 'incidents of children launching DDoS attacks against schools' reported by the UK Cybercrime Prevention Network more than doubled from 2019 to 2020.
The majority of children launching DDoS attacks on schools are secondary school students between the ages of 11 and 16, with a median age of 15. However, the youngest perpetrator was a mere 9 years old, highlighting the growing trend toward younger cybercriminals.
Security blogger Graham Cluley speculates that the reason cybercrime is becoming more prevalent among younger players is because they install mods to beat other players in online games, which then leads to hacking other players or using Trojans to gain remote access, ultimately leading to DDoS attacks.
NCCU believes that children turn to cybercrime because they are not properly educated that hacking and DDoS attacks are crimes that should not be committed, and has launched a new initiative targeting more than 2,000 elementary and junior high schools.
While previous efforts simply denied access to pages related to cybercrime when students searched for it on school computers, the new initiative redirects students to a website called '
Cyber Choices not only informs kids that what they're trying to do is a cybercrime that could result in fines and even jail time, but also that advanced technology knowledge can lead to relatively well-paying jobs. 'Law enforcement takes cybercrime seriously,' the organization says. 'Make sure you understand the potential downsides of committing a cybercrime and take steps to improve your skills legally.'
At the time of writing, the Cyber Choices initiative is in the pilot phase, but it has already seen a significant drop in searches for terms related to DDoS attacks. 'Education is a key pillar in crime prevention, and this message emphasizes the risks and consequences of committing cybercrime,' said John Denli, deputy director of NCCU. 'Law enforcement plays a critical role in tackling cybercrime and keeping our country safe. School outreach is important for educating young people, and this initiative will help steer them away from crime.'
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