French authorities have arrested 22 suspected
corporate computer hackers.
The gang is alleged to have broken into corporate networks in
France, Russia and Iceland.
The 22 alleged
hackers were arrested in Paris and southern and central France,
following a four-month investigation involving more than 90 members
of the police force.
The arrested members of the alleged gang are said to all be
younger than 25 years of age, with one reported to be only 13 years
old.
According to media reports, the gang were members of an internet
forum of some 200 hackers, where they were seen bragging about
their "successes".
Police have said that it is not clear at the moment what the
motivation for the hacking was, although some data was reportedly
destroyed on company networks.
If found guilty of destroying data and degrading network
performance in affected companies, the hackers could face a maximum
of five years in jail.
"One of the disturbing facts about this story is that 16 of the
22 people arrested are under 18 years old," said Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant at web security software firm
Sophos.
"We should question what is going wrong with our education of
young people to make them think that computer hacking might be an
acceptable way to behave. More has to be done to teach children in
school how to use their computer skills responsibly."
According to official statements, 34 businesses in France,
Iceland and Russia were allegedly affected by the hacking, but at
present only seven firms have registered a formal complaint.
"Companies not only need to be on their guard to defend their
systems against cybercriminals and internet hackers, they must also
be prepared to report crimes when they occur," said Cluley.
"If individuals and businesses do not come forward and report an
offence, the authorities can find it hard to put together a
concrete case against the perpetrators."