Adolescence, an intense stage of growth, synaptic pruning and emotional glow, turns out to be a particularly interesting asset for cybercrime networks. It is a sum of factors. The laxity in penalties, certain socio-economic conditions, their greater vulnerability and exposure to manipulation add to the desire for transgression typical of that age. The perfect cocktail for recruitment. This is how petty criminals are born to mini cyberterrorists who weave their criminal career from what was previously a game to what can later become prison.
More and more cybercriminal groups recruit minors or young adults to commit cybercrimes. Criminals infiltrate social networks, video games and messaging platforms such as Telegram, Discord or forums. The first step is to chat with them to discover their likes, complaints and aspirations. They look for the ideal profile, that is, easy to manipulate and with certain computer skills. Once detected, the second step is to establish a connection disguised as sympathy or friendship. In some cases, the recruitment process begins by helping them get rewards or coins in video games by breaking some rules.
The third phase is to test them. Games, challenges, small challenges are proposed to test daring and skill. The commitment. Tasks ranging from programming to computer intrusions. Later, if they see that the profile is cooperating, they begin to offer - and ask for - more and more. Informal conversations become false promises of opportunities for easy money or payment in cryptocurrencies. They attract young people through luxury and status.
International ransomware groups (malicious programs that steal and hijack files from both individuals and companies with the aim of demanding payments to return access) look for young people of different nationalities to use in the countries where they intend to carry out criminal actions. Beyond their computer skills, Western minors are also useful for their language: to make, for example, extortion calls, write credible messages, negotiate ransoms or talk to victims. Thus, some end up being part of international networks used even in hybrid wars.
Once you enter, although it is not impossible, it is not easy to leave either. These networks often use psychological manipulation or coercion as a fourth phase to maintain the loyalty of their team of crackers. The criminals know their crimes and blackmail them by revealing their identity or private data if they refuse to continue collaborating.
It's not a child's game. They cause damage worth billions of dollars, such as those caused by Scattered Spider, ShinyHunters, BlackCat, ALPHV or Lapsus$. Precisely these networks resort to the collaboration of young kids. In some cases these teenagers end up being part of the group known as The Com (The Community), an organization that the FBI has been tracking for the last year. Attacks can turn into scams, phishing, data theft or damage to infrastructure, companies or institutions. Of all kinds. You will remember the massive theft of private information from two hundred million Pornhub users.
A problem that Spain also faces and a recent example is found in the Valencian Community. The Civil Guard and the Mossos had been behind KillSec for some time, a group investigated for nearly a thousand computer attacks spread around the world. On September 30, Operation KillSwitch was carried out, a transnational police action in which a 16-year-old teenager of Romanian nationality who lived in Alicante turned out to be the alleged main person responsible for an international ransomware organization. The boy would have started his criminal career when he was just 12 years old. But what was striking, beyond his age, was his purchasing power: he had managed to accumulate the latest generation of phones, watches and motorcycles.
Europol insists on pointing out that criminal organizations are increasingly using video games, social networks and messaging applications as means to recruit young people and minors. In this sense, the COMPASS Project started in 2025, to which Spain belongs, tries to combat The Com in its three main networks: cyber com, which would be computer intrusions or attacks against systems and ransomware; offline com, violent crimes and material damage, up to (s)extortion com, sexual exploitation, blackmail and coercion of minors.
