Teenage Brit charged with denial-of-service attacks, and bomb threats

If you have a 15-year-old son who is into computers, do you know what he’s up to in his bedroom right now?

Well, you might want to hope that he’s visiting a porn site – because there are certainly much worse things he could be up to.

Devon & Cornwall Police in the UK say that a 15-year-old youth from the Plympton area of Plymouth has been charged in connection with a series of denial-of-service attacks on websites based in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.

In addition, the teenager has been charged with two offences in relation to bomb hoaxes directed against North American airlines that were posted on social media sites.

The 15-year-old, who has not been named, has been bailed to appear before Plymouth Youth Court on December 18th.

Whenever stories emerge that a teenager might have been involved in cybercrime, the tabloid newspapers often try to paint a picture of the suspect as a social loner with advanced computing skills.

However, the truth is that you don’t have to be a genius to launch a denial-of-service attack or to post a bomb threat on Twitter.

According to a BBC News report, the youth is not believed to have been involved in the high profile hacking of mobile phone operator TalkTalk, which has also seen a number of arrests in recent weeks.

_{flickr photo shared by gagilas under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA )}

Found this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter, Mastodon, or Threads to read more of the exclusive content we post.

Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.