Children as young as 11 have been writing malicious code in order to hack into their friends’ gaming and social media accounts, says a report. According to the BBC, the practice of teaching kids how to code has created an unexpected problem: The youngsters use it for nefarious purposes–in this case, says Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CTO at AVG, to steal virtual currency on some gaming sites and social networks. One perpetrator in Canada was found to be just 11 years old and had included his email address and password in the code, something a more experienced hacker would never do. Coding initiatives for the youth are springing up everywhere, from out-of-school classes such as Coderdojo to the fantastic Raspberry Pi, a British-born basic, super-cheap computer that even Google is getting behind.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.