Beware, WannaCry; you've just awakened the force in this kid

He's so unassuming. Put him in a crowd and he won't exactly standout. Until he starts talking, that is. We're talking about Mohammed Maniar, 15.

For half-an-hour, Maniar talks about how 'weak' the WannaCry virus is, why hackers shouldn't be labelled the baddies and why businesses should take notice and ramp up their digital security.

Maniar looks like a regular teenager doing teen stuff, until he makes you realise he's not a regular teenager and not doing regular teen stuff. "I was shocked," he begins, "because it's not normal for a big firm to be attacked by some simple malware."

Of course, he's talking about the WannaCry ransomware mess, which proved that even the biggest, apparently most-secure companies can be reduced to mere digital mortals.

I asked him why he termed such a large-scale cyber-attack 'simple'. "It's not a professional hack," he says. "The hackers did it just to prove that governments are stockpiling software warheads."

Nervous at the start of our conversation, Mohammed warms up to my antics to calm him down and starts to deliver more.

True; the United States' National Security Agency, where the code of WannaCry originated, was accused of hoarding digital weapons - and it's like playing with fire, especially when it falls into the wrong hands, Mohammed alludes, following it up with an even more serious statement.

"It's not good for the Big Five of the United Nations to be doing this because, number one, databases can be hacked."

Mohammed points out that perhaps we should be thankful that those hackers were able to get enough code just for WannaCry, because "they could have gotten bigger things. It could easily have been a bigger mess and the entire world could have been attacked by a virus - everything, even phones, becoming unusable."
Early starter

So what makes him tick? Mohammed says he started tinkering with computers at the age of two, using the computer of his dad, who was a programmer. Tragedy struck sometime later. His father passed away, so he had to move back to India with his mom.

In the fifth grade, he came across his first programming language - GW-Basic - and it was then that he discovered he had a knack for the geeky stuff. By the eighth grade, he says his friends would always ask for his help when their projects were not going according to plan.

The rest, as they say, is history. Mohammed claims his programs are the most sought-after in his class.

"I got the hang of it," he says, a bit self consciously. Back to the present, he stressed, in typical Star Wars fashion, that WannaCry had 'awakened the force' in him. He says with all his background, he always wanted to do hacking, and the ransomware attack just "gave [him] another reason to pursue hacking at a professional level".

And he owes his awakening to Marcus Hutchins, the 'accidental hero' initially known as MalwareBytes who discovered the 'kill switch' to temporarily disable WannaCry's spread.

"I'm so happy he discovered it," Mohammed says. "Proves that there is no such thing as a 'super-program' or a 'super-virus'."
Not all hackers are bad guys

But Mohammed made one thing clear: he wants to be a hacktivist. Well, he is an aspiring hacktivist at this point in time.

The terms 'hacker' and 'hacktivist' are almost always used in the same breath. While 'hacktivist' technically means the use of technology to promote a political agenda, it's also a way of promoting hacker ethics - using it to do good.

"Hackers should not be given 'the bad guy' tag," he says. "Most hackers still do it for a good cause," he adds, citing the example of the Anonymous group, whom Mohammed describes as "guys who hack but don't steal, and just give vital information" to the public.

I asked him, on the premise that his works in school are tops, if he was capable of writing a virus.

"No, not yet," was his straight answer.

Would he do it, for a huge sum, even if it means going rogue?

"If it's for a good cause, yes. But if otherwise, I'll tell the police."

He even tries to crack a joke (though it was hard to tell if it was since at this point he seemed to have shed his nervousness): "Hackers shouldn't be in digital jails; they should be in physical jails - they're the same as terrorists".
Businesses, shape up

Usually, when we talk about business, we turn to so-called experts and professionals for a view of what's going on, and often for some advice. In this case, I got some advice - and took it - from someone 147 per cent younger than me.

"Businesses need a team of hackers - to hack into hackers' computers," he begins, explaining that, yes, a tit-for-tat method could work to companies' advantage in the event that something is stolen in cyberspace.

And if things go awry, Mohammed thinks it's a good idea for firms to have hard copy back-ups of their files. Yes, I know that's a whole lot of paperwork, but hey; while businesses do need to digitalise, "they should not rely" entirely on soft copies and what's on the cloud.

"Digital security must be incorporated into anything connected," he adds.

He then belts out the now-oozing spirit of hacktivism. Mohammed says there are many types of hackers, but the trouble is sometimes there are those who don't know what they're doing.

"Some like to experiment. They don't know what they're up to really," he says. "Others want revenge, and the spirit of vengeance is wrong; it only harms them and others who haven't done anything to deserve that." I looked at him intently in between those statements. Suddenly, he blurts out another joke.

"Sometimes it's okay to get back at someone but not every time," he says, and both of us burst out laughing. "Nah. you just have to leave it and forget about it." Turning serious again, he reiterates that hacktivists exist to expose something important, including the basic stuff such as showing that your password is weak, that your systems need upgrades and stuff like that.

Best reason to learn hacking? When you're locked out of your own account; you won't need to pay hundreds to recover it - and it'll knock your head, telling you what a 'great' job you've done with your password.

<[>Which begets the Dh100,000 question: has he hacked into anything yet? No, apparently. Mohammed hasn't hacked into anything yet. He says he even asked a friend to do the honours when he was once locked out of his school e-mail ID. But he knows one day he'll be into it, along with some of his closest friends whom he says have the same mindset as him.

"I always see hacking as a good cause. Hackers and hacktivists are on the same battleground, but are different."

Interestingly, Mohammed's set to take up genetic engineering in agriculture when he enters college later this year. Will this have any effect on his hacking dreams? Not a chance; he wants to 'perfect' his knowledge of computers and technology so that he can one day be a part of the 'hacking for a cause' movement.

I'm quite sure his dad would approve of his dream. His mom does. She supports him and has a simple guiding mantra. "Just don't do anything stupid."

Hope we meet again when you're a full-blown hacktivist, buddy.

Source: Khaleej Times