BABYFACE ‘HACKER WHO PARALYSED A PHONE GIANT’
Son of a single mother, TalkTalk suspect, 15, is violent video game addict who rarely leaves his bedroom
THE boy of 15 arrested over the TalkTalk cyber-attack is a babyfaced loner who rarely leaves his bedroom.
The reclusive youngster is suspected of being behind the huge security breach that has put the banking details of four million households at risk.
Scores of TalkTalk customers have been targeted by fraudsters exploiting the hacked data and the firm’s share price plunged. The boy was arrested in the pebbledashed property he shares with his single mother on a rundown estate in Northern Ireland.
His online blog reveals he is obsessed with violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto. And neighbours say he was being taught at home after repeated suspensions saw him kicked out of school. ‘He’s always
inside, in there 24/7 and up all night in his bedroom,’ said one.
A close family friend said: ‘ He never wanted to go to school. He is quite a small boy and small for his age. He never leaves the house. He never goes and hangs out with other lads of his age.
‘Obviously he is doing something else rather than running around with other 15-year-olds.’
Analysts were last night trawling the data on the boy’s computer in the hunt for other suspects. Police sources say they expect to search further addresses in what is a ‘fastmoving’ investigation.
Much of the boy’s online blog, which contains references to his family, is made up of computer code and it appears to include the email addresses of fellow computer obsessives around the world.
The Mail traced one email address to an imposing detached house in a leafy cul-desac in New York state.
From the age of ten, the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has spent hours playing violent video games such as Call of Duty, Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto – all of which are unsuitable for young children because of their graphic nature.
A year ago he wrote on his blog: ‘I’m a 14-year-old gamer who one day wants to be a professional Call of Duty player.’
He says he dislikes reading and ‘ never really watches TV or movies’. The boy lists gaming under his list of general hobbies.
Neighbours on the estate in Ballymena where he lives described him as a very quiet boy who is almost always in his bedroom. The estate has strong Unionist links and has murals of the Ulster Volunteer Force. One neighbour said: ‘All the other kids play with each other around the estate, kick a ball and what have you. But you very rarely see him.
‘He is almost always indoors. I never see him heading out to school like the other kids. He wouldn’t be very streetwise and doesn’t seem to have much common sense.’
A neighbour said the teenager spent seven hours in custody at a police station in County Antrim. He was released on bail yesterday morning. ‘My big fear for that wee lad now is that he is going to be targeted by the criminals,’ he added. ‘I guess it is just a matter of time before they come knocking.
‘There are some people on the estate who think he’s some big hero but I wonder how they would feel if it was their bank details that he was able to access.’
The boy and his unemployed mother are believed to have moved to the house about four years ago. His father and siblings live elsewhere.
He was arrested shortly after 4pm on Monday after armed officers raided the house. One officer was heard shouting ‘Where is he, where is he’ moments after they stormed in. A 20-year- old neighbour said: ‘Most of the neighbours are friendly but they are a quiet family.
‘To hear that a 15-year-old boy is alleged to have hacked into one of the world’s biggest companies is really surprising.’
Another resident, a cookery student, said: ‘Police were here for most of the day. It was dark by the time they left. There was a big white unmarked van. People were wondering why the police were here, it’s usually a quiet area.
‘He didn’t seem very smart. He used to run around and get into trouble when he was younger, he was a bit cheeky.’
Jesse Norman, who is the chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, is leading an inquiry into the TalkTalk data breach.
Officers are investigating a ransom demand sent to the phone and broadband provider by someone claiming to be responsible and seeking payment. The firm said it was not sure if the message was genuine.
The latest breach is the third cyber-attack on the same telecoms company in eight months – data of broadband and mobile customers was stolen both in February and August.
TalkTalk has said it was unclear how many of its four million customers had been affected by the latest hack, which forced it to close down its website last week. It warned that the details which may have been stolen included dates of birth, banking sort codes and account numbers.
It was reported by the Financial Times last night that the personal details of more than 600,000 customers of companies in the UK were stolen in 2014.
Senior government officials say ‘tens of thousands’ of British identities, including all the bank account information necessary to steal money, are for sale on the dark web for around £20 a go.
MoneyMail – Page 37
‘Targeted by
criminals’