Sacked computer hacker gets new role helping Northumbria Police fight cyber crime - Chronicle Live
Sacked for hacking into his employer's system, computer whizz Tom Johnson's skills could have ruined his life.
The dad-of-two became hooked on hacking as a teenager after his mum bought him a computer to do his schoolwork on.
Tom taught himself how to copy and pirate games and write programmes which could bypass security settings on his mum's phone, resulting in him running up internet bills for hundreds of pounds.
But his computer expertise landed him in hot water when he was sacked from his first job for breaching the company's security system.
Now Tom is working with Northumbria Police's cyber crime cops to help educate youngsters about breaking the law online.
And he hopes he can help computer whizz kids put their talents to good use, instead of for illegal activity.
The 42-year-old said: "This is my passion, I absolutely love it. It’s funny to talk about my past but there are serious undertones – if I can do this so can other people – and they won’t necessarily have morals or ethics."
Tom says he was formerly a ‘grey-hat hacker’, a term used to describe somebody prepared to act illegally to highlight vulnerabilities in systems.
He used to spend his days hacking security systems, writing programmes and scanning overseas computer servers.
The dad-of-two became hooked on hacking as a teenager after his mum bought him a computer to do his schoolwork on.
Tom taught himself how to copy and pirate games and write programmes which could bypass security settings on his mum's phone, resulting in him running up internet bills for hundreds of pounds.
But his computer expertise landed him in hot water when he was sacked from his first job for breaching the company's security system.
Now Tom is working with Northumbria Police's cyber crime cops to help educate youngsters about breaking the law online.
And he hopes he can help computer whizz kids put their talents to good use, instead of for illegal activity.
The 42-year-old said: "This is my passion, I absolutely love it. It’s funny to talk about my past but there are serious undertones – if I can do this so can other people – and they won’t necessarily have morals or ethics."
Tom says he was formerly a ‘grey-hat hacker’, a term used to describe somebody prepared to act illegally to highlight vulnerabilities in systems.
He used to spend his days hacking security systems, writing programmes and scanning overseas computer servers.
