17-year-old hacker with 1.5 billion in exploitable funds: Thanks to police for catching me before I turned 18
During his underage years, A Ye, a junior high school graduate, used self-taught "hacker" techniques to launch cyber attacks, extracting batches of customer bank card information and passwords. He collaborated with accomplices to exploit vulnerabilities in online payments, stealing from others' bank accounts for huge profits. Preliminary investigations show that from 2013 to the present, A Ye, along with online associates using usernames like "Crocodile" and "Ten Years Without Meeting," operated in a loosely organized manner, committing crimes and illegally profiting over 14 million yuan.
The task force explained that A Ye fully exploited the weak information security protections and vulnerabilities during the rapid development of the big data era. He wrote his own hacker software to selectively attack well-known recruitment websites or other sites containing large amounts of customer data, stealing information from the backend. According to A Ye, after accumulating a certain number of bank card details, he would post information on QQ groups to find "channels" and "partners" for cashing out. The so-called "channel" refers to methods of exploiting online payment vulnerabilities to steal and convert bank account funds.
In fact, A Ye targeted the "four key pieces" of bank card information: bank account number, ID number, login password, and phone number. As A Ye recalled, he collected a large number of email accounts and passwords through online searches and other means, then wrote software to attack recruitment websites, which only required an email and password to access. He obtained millions of pieces of personal information and compiled them into a database using data from other sources. Using a set of data sorting software developed in "Easy Language," he automatically matched complete "four key pieces" of bank card information.
A Ye expressed deep gratitude to the police for working overnight to arrest him before his 18th birthday and for visiting him at the detention center on his birthday with his favorite roast duck leg. Currently, A Ye is diligently studying C++ and web-related content in the detention center, dreaming of becoming a cybersecurity expert and a "red hacker."
(Southern Metropolis Daily)
How should crimes committed by those under 18 be sentenced? A brief analysis of China's age provisions for criminal responsibility.
According to Article 17 of China's Criminal Law regarding the age of criminal responsibility, we can roughly draw the following conclusions:
(1) Persons under the age of 14 who commit crimes are not subject to criminal liability.
(2) Persons who have reached the age of 16 and commit crimes shall bear criminal responsibility.
(3) Persons who have reached the age of 14 but not the age of 16 and commit intentional homicide, intentional injury causing serious injury or death, rape, robbery, drug trafficking, arson, explosion, or poisoning (or the eight types of acts included therein) shall bear criminal responsibility.
(4) Persons who have reached the age of 14 but not the age of 18 and commit crimes shall be given a lighter or mitigated punishment.
(5) If a person under the age of 16 is not subject to criminal punishment due to being underage, their parents or guardians shall be ordered to discipline them; when necessary, the government may also take them into custody for rehabilitation.
It is worth noting that the ages mentioned above all refer to full years of age, and specifically the full years of age at the time of the crime. In this case, A Ye had not yet passed his 18th birthday at the time of arrest, so he can still be treated under the provisions of point (4) above, with a lighter or mitigated punishment as a juvenile offender.
But as A Ye said: "A hacker might earn hundreds of thousands or even millions in one night, but the price of breaking the law is losing freedom. Actually, for me, what hurts more than losing freedom is that I have hurt my family. My mother and girlfriend exhausted all their resources to hire a lawyer for me, the house at home can't be built, and my younger siblings' tuition fees are now a problem..."
Therefore, young people should use their intelligence on the right path, and not always think about making quick money, especially illegal quick money, as it will cost them a lifetime!
Tip: Online payment passwords must be different from other passwords.
Given the frequency of online shopping and the vast amount of personal information online, how can ordinary users protect themselves from hacker attacks and bank card theft? The task force police, based on the above new types of crime, have summarized the following prevention tips.
First, strengthen password management. Police stated that in this case, many users had overly simple passwords, and they used the same password for online payment, email, QQ, WiFi, and other accounts, which is extremely dangerous. Once hackers breach any account, they can obtain bank card passwords.
[Tip] Online payment passwords must be unique, different from other passwords, and should be changed periodically. Never use birthdays or regular number patterns as passwords.
Second, be cautious during payment. Police noted that in such crimes, the final step is often "cashing out" through online payment. Criminals typically exploit the loophole where mobile banking does not verify the reserved phone number or login device, purchasing phone recharge cards, Q coins, etc., and then finding buyers to cash out.
[Tip] In such cases, it is best to add a U-shield during online payment, or choose dynamic passwords and verification code payment methods.
Third, strengthen phone management. Police stated that in the cases, hackers send malware (usually targeting Android systems) to cardholders' phones, gain control, and redirect SMS messages to obtain verification codes for large transactions, transferring and stealing funds before cashing out.
[Tip] On your phone, do not install or click on unknown software or links, regularly scan for viruses, and avoid logging into unknown WiFi networks.
Fourth, pay attention to bank card management.
[Tip] Users are advised to use credit cards for consumption and debit cards for financial management. After all, credit card accounts have no funds, and the amount per transaction can be controlled.
