Teen Hackers as Cybercrime Pipeline

Britain’s data regulator says 57% of 215 school‑origin breaches since 2022 were carried out by students, including a 7‑year‑old referred to the National Crime Agency and teens compromising databases with thousands of records. Easy‑to‑download tools, weak passwords, and dares are turning school networks into practice ranges that normalize illicit access. This suggests early diversion and stronger K–12 identity security (e.g., MFA, least‑privilege) are national‑security issues, not just school IT chores. — It reframes youth justice, education policy, and cybersecurity by treating K–12 breaches as the front end of a cyber‑offender pipeline that can feed major attacks.