15 year old boy could be sentenced to 10 years in jail for hacking

A hacker at work!

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with hacking into the London public school board’s website and exposing thousands of passwords, according to police. A week and a half ago, a hacker posted a link from a Facebook page to a text document that contained the usernames and passwords for 27,000 London high school students. Unfortunately, the 15-year-old boy is charged with fraudulently obtaining a computer service and intercepting a computer function. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.


I had a mixed reaction when I heard about this. At first I laughed, thinking in my head the stupid kid is getting what he deserves. But upon further reflection, I felt rather sorry for the kid. A penalty of 10 years in prison because he gained access to some students marks? Are you serious? The worst punishment I could ever dream up for a situation like this would be a suspension and some community service, but jail time? Especially for a minor? I really think that kind of punishment is blowing things way out of proportion! I believe if the kid is slapped with anything more than a suspension and community work, our justice system is simply screwing him over!