As high school graduation ceremonies approach, we turn our attention toward what all those graduates are going to do next. Brought up in the digital age, these young people may be eagerly looking for opportunities to apply their technical skill sets, but there’s one career path that is not going to make parents proud – cybercrime. 

A recent National Crime Agency report analyzed by the BBC, states that the, “average age of those… arrested (for cybercrime) is 17.” Free and easy-to-use hacking tools, a sense that the crimes are victimless, and a community that lauds technical skills that aren’t appreciated by their peers are leading young people to commit virtual crime when they wouldn’t otherwise in the real world. There is one point of good news – the young “don’t seem to be motivated primarily by money, which means early intervention can be very successful.”

If we’re being honest, though, crime pays, at least in the digital realm. The investigation and prosecution effort for the use of a stolen credit card, for example, is usually more costly than the value of the goods illegally purchased. So the hacker most often gets away without a criminal charge.

But choosing to become a black hat hacker is not without risk. If you’re a budding hacker, consider these downsides.

Read full news article on SecurityWeek