Child hackers: How are kids becoming sophisticated cyber criminals?

In a world that is increasingly internet-enabled and hyper-connected, the issue of cybersecurity has never been so important. 

And in a period of heightened geo-political tensions, people and businesses are faced with the ever-growing threat of cyberattacks. 

But what do we know about these cyber criminals who operate in the shadows of the world wide web? 

In our second series of hacker : HUNTER, we shift our focus to the role of children and learn how criminals are targeting young gamers, who are carrying out sophisticated cyberattacks and even getting their hands on deadly weapons.  

Barbara Gemen's son became involved in cybercrime at a very young age. 

"My son started hacking at the age of eight. And that's when he ordered a gun," she explained. 

"I think he spent a month trying to figure out how to order the gun and to get it delivered to our home. [From] Poland to Bulgaria, and you can make sure it passes through customs without being checked. He opened it and he was really, really excited that he managed to get a gun delivered to our home. I was completely shocked. I immediately decided to do things differently at home."

"He started to spend a lot of time behind a computer and he started ordering things on the Internet without paying. First, like pizzas, but then also bigger things [...] It was quite difficult for me to understand what was going on."

"He started to wake up at night to sit behind a computer and he was really stressed. And that's when we find out he was working with a group of international hackers."

But after her attempts to inform the police were dismissed as "exaggeration" by officers, she decided to train herself in cybersecurity and is now a Cyber Special Volunteer with the Dutch Police.

"It's so easy