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[-] unitedwithme@lemmy.today 34 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Let me comment before finishing the article: this is a software's lack of security problem, not a young teenager's problem.

The fact they were breached, that's nothing new. Same goes for everyone's SSN under the sun, who cares?! The fact that a young person is owning up to it now, they have to punish and make such a big example out of him, it distracts from the failure of big tech...

Edit: another reason not to put all your eggs in one basket. PowerSchool is an American tech company, public on NYSE in 2021, and now owned by Bain Capital... Would you PLEASE THINK OF THOSE INVESTORS!!!

[-] bearboiblake@pawb.social 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This is hardly a new phenomenon at all. I used to be a teen hacker myself. Many security experts and ethical hackers start out as skript kiddies playing around with Kali Linux.

If anything, it’s easier to make money as a teen hacker nowadays than it was back in my day thanks to crypto. Used to mostly be for prestige and for that sense of testing yourself, though people still definitely got paid, perhaps not at the same scale.

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 week ago

I disagree. It's very difficult to make money like that. A bit easier is bug bounties, but a real fixed income job is much more easy. Another, smaller problem is limited payment options with crypto. It means you'd have launder it into real money.

[-] redsand@infosec.pub 4 points 1 week ago

Nope, super easy. Especially when you're a patsy. It's really easy until you get caught like your partners planned from the start.

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

yeah, i assumed a scheme where one doesn't get thrown under the bus 😄

[-] bearboiblake@pawb.social 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Just to clarify, I meant it's easier to make money as a teen hacker nowadays than it was back in my day thanks to crypto. I edited my original comment to clarify that

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

oh, i see. thx for the clarification

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

You’d think they would have approached him about a job working for the NSA or something similar.

[-] terabyterex@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

For blackmailing teachers and children? Should we give the people who scam old people out of their retirement money jobs too? What crimes do we punish and which do we reward? Do we give a guy who assaults women a job teaching self defense?

Whats the point of laws? I am sure the teachers who are barely paid dont feel ok with having their personal info held hostage.

[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Why? The pros know how to breach systems. The real question is what are you going to do with the breach?

Today is the lazy man's game. This kid just played with fire and got burned. Nothing more.

[-] homes@piefed.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

this isn't the 70s/80s. that type of recruitment hasn't be necessary for a long time.

[-] redsand@infosec.pub 2 points 1 week ago

This kid is so lame. 0 technical details but it sounds like real hackers on roblox gave him links to Kali and some tutorials then he used probably SET, sqlmap, armitage, etc... behind a VPN until being caught.

He's a patsy for real criminals. This is such a hard shitty spin. The writer should feel bad.

this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
37 points (100.0% liked)

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