Communications of the ACM
The Kids Who Might Save the Internet
The future of the Internet may lie in the hands of a new generation of computer-savvy children.
Credit: Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor
The future of the Internet may lie in the hands of a new generation of computer-savvy children forming a hacker community disposed toward fortifying Web security.
"The next generation...are more willing to challenge assumptions in technology than older people, who may feel things are established or difficult to change," says ESET researcher Stephen Cobb. "It's the idealism of youth which may inspire alternative approaches to design and deployment of digital technology."
One teenage hacker, "CyFi," hacked a game app at age 10 and has co-founded a cybersecurity conference for children that hosts ethical hacking workshops. She says her generation "has a responsibility to make the Internet safer and better," especially as its increasing connectedness to homes and institutions creates new vulnerabilities.
Among the incentives luring children into hacking are financial rewards for the discovery of digital weaknesses. Corporate funding for training also is encouraging young people to fill a void in the cybersecurity workforce, while the Air Force Association's CyberPatriot contest seeks to test the skills of middle- and high-school youth and inspire them to pursue cybersecurity careers.
Some children want to pass on their technical knowledge to other children, with one 10-year-old heading a nonprofit that produces videos and games to educate children in cybersecurity.
From The Christian Science Monitor
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