Minors have access to much more information than a few years ago. Social networks and video platforms in general help to teach practically everything, from the most useful to the most dangerous, even to earn money, even if it is by cheating other people.

This has been shown by Avast, a company that has carried out an investigation in which an online community has been uncovered where minors created and spread malware, including ransomware.

To earn money with the theme, they performed the following steps:

– They accessed the group on Discod where they learned to create malware in a simple way. In some cases, they even had to buy the necessary applications to create the viruses, since, once in the group, they had to pay between 5 and 25 euros to have access to the tool.
– They used discussion forums to send malware, and strategies were discussed with the aim of hacking schools, invading teachers’ devices and even attacking their own parents.

Among the groups analyzed was one with more than 1,500 users, with several dozen customers paying for the virus-creating program.

The malware they created and distributed was used to steal passwords and private data, but also to hijack computers using ransomware. In the latter case, the minors blocked equipment from schools or specific people and demanded a ransom to normalize the situation, charging in cryptocurrencies so as not to leave a trace of the crime.

They also used the viruses to steal video game accounts, to delete game folders like Fortnite or Minecraft, or to play pranks by repeatedly opening adult pages on other people’s computers.

In the researched communities, hacking is seen as something good and fun, and when they started making money with ransomware or selling user data, it began to be seen as a job, something that could be solved with the right guidance inside and outside of schools. .

Among the techniques used to distribute the malware was the publication of YouTube videos with tricks or cracked games, indicating links to infected files in the description of the malware. Other users on Discord liked the video to build trust among future victims.

Discord has already confirmed that they are taking measures to delete these types of communities, although we already know that it is difficult to stop these activities. Today it will be on Discord, tomorrow it will be on the next trendy network.