07/02/2008

Shane Kelly, a 16-year-old from Solihull, has become the world's youngest ethical hacker by about five years.

The Certified Ethical Hacker course usually requires students to be at least 21 years old, yet the teen who attends Solihull College said he turned to computers after contracting diabetes and encountering problems at school.

"This qualification proves your knowledge of attacks and how organisations can defend themselves - hackers can cause incredible damage to companies. I think I've put all my problems at school behind me. I'm a lot happier now," he said.

And Mr Kelly is not just recognised by those at his school but by the experts as well, who say ethical hackers need to think like hi-tech thieves.

Rajive Kapoor, head of business development of Security Systems Resource International, said: "Shane has great skills in the ethical hacking world and is applying these skills in protecting business, demonstrating there are no minimum age limits."