Is Your Son A Computer Hacker?

You’re a good parent and involved in a lot of activities with your teen son. You attend his sporting events, allow teen parties within your home so you can keep an eye on them, and keep an eye on what he’s doing on the internet. And you can comfortably say he’s a good kid! So what would you say if I asked you if your son was a computer hacker?

I can hear you rolling on the floor laughing and saying not my son. He’s a good kid! Sure he spends a great deal of time on the computer chatting with his friends and he’s involved in online gaming but he’s no computer hacker. Make sure you don’t have to eat those words. Good kids, smart kids, teens of all ages are becoming involved in hacking and your son could be one of those teens. So how can you tell?

There are several signs that might indicate that your son has taken up a career in hacking. Almost all of us connect to the internet through a trusted ISP provider. These providers have strict rules relating to hacking. If your teen is suddenly requesting you change ISP’s you might want to inquire why especially if they are requesting you change to a provider that is known to be tolerant of hackers. What ever you do don’t change providers!

Are you suddenly finding all kinds of programs on your computer that you never installed. You can easily check what resides on your computer by checking the Control Panel and then checking add/remove programs. If you see programs you are not familiar with you’ll want to confront your son and find out why they are there. Watch for specific programs that are popular with hackers. You can easily obtain a list online.

If you notice that your son is reading manuals that are related to hacking you need to start asking questions. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with reading the books. Teens are naturally curious. However that curiosity generally leads them to take the next step which is to practice what they’ve read.

Whether you agree with hacking or not, your teen can get into some serious trouble by hacking and it’s your job to ensure he understands the consequences of those actions and to do your part to ensure his hacking career never starts.

Hackers need top of the line equipment. They need super fast video cards, lots of RAM, and big hard drives, so if your son suddenly starts requesting hardware updates that have no justification in the normal realm of what your computer is used for. You need to find out what’s going on. Chances are they’ll justify needing this equipment for a new game. Make sure that’s the only reason they want it!

If your son uses Quake, Debian, BSD, or Lunix you need to put the breaks on! Quake is an online virtual reality site that hackers use. It’s a training camp and a meeting place where hacking is openly discussed and techniques are fine tuned.

Debian, BSD, and Lunix are all illegal hacker operating systems. There are actually several others but these are the main ones. These programs are used to hack into other people’s computers stealing credit cards and other personal information. They are also used to hack into systems and steal MP3 program.

If your son is accessing or has any of these programs on your computer you need to put a stop to it now. Not only can and will he get into serious trouble when he gets caught, if he downloads copyright material you could be left holding the bill. This has happened to several unknowing parents when the music industry billed them for the MP3 files their children obtained illegally.

Don’t believe what you hear that hackers are troubled teens who are struggling in school and having a tough time coping. Teen hackers come from all backgrounds, all education levels, and some are F students while others are A students.

For teens half of the draw to hacking is simply the challenge. There is no question that some of these teens are involved to do serious damage but other teens like the challenge, the intrigue, and the test of ones skills that accompany hacking.

As a parent you need to be sure your son is not involved in hacking. The consequences are serious and could destroy his future. So the next time someone asks you if your son is a computer hacker, before you laugh it off, be sure the answer isn’t yes!

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.