If you want to impress a company, hacking them probably isn’t the way to go. Unfortunately, that’s the exact tactic one Australian teenager used in 2015 and 2017. Recently, the 17-year-old was sentenced to nine months probation by a judge who encouraged him to use his talents “for good,” Business Insider reported . The teenager originally hacked Apple’s mainframe with the help of another teenager when he was 13-years-old. Using his “high level of expertise,” he created false credentials to break into the server where he downloaded internal documents and data, according to the Australian Broadcasting Network . Apple alerted the FBI after the company detected a breach. As a result, the Australian Federal Police ended up raiding the boy’s home. Gizmodo Australia reported that police discovered 90GB of files in a folder titled “hacky hack hack.” “We regard the data security of our users as one of our greatest responsibilities and want to assure our customers that at no point during this...

Recently, the Australian government introduced a tough new bill to “prevent the weaponizing of social media platforms” by holding social media executives responsible for violent content on their platforms. Under the proposed law, social media platforms that fail to “expeditiously” remove “abhorrent violent material” (such as terrorism, murder, and rape) are subject to punishment. This can include a fine amounting to 10 percent of the companies’ annual earnings and executives could also be imprisoned for up to three years. In a press release , Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “Big social media companies have a responsibility to take every possible action to ensure their technology products are not exploited by murderous terrorists. It should not just be a matter of doing the right thing. It should be the law.” Any platforms who become aware of violent content on their sites are required to notify the Australian Federal Police. If they don’t, they could face fines up to...