Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

 
Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal is fueling the debate over how to protect digital information. One hacker from Texas is also raising awareness about growing cyber threats, and he’s only 12 years old.

Ruben Paul is a 6th grader from Austin. He hacks household items to demonstrate how they can be exploited to spy on or even harm people. David Begnaud recently met the self-proclaimed “cyber ninja” who showed him how smart toys can be turned into listening devices.

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Reuben Paul, Hacker and Cyber Security Expert: “Hi everybody.”

Ruben Paul is 12 years old — and he’s helping to lead the conversation on cybersecurity. Presenting in the Netherlands . . . advising a tech conference in Singapore . . . and wowing a crowd full of executives in Texas.

Reuben Paul, Hacker and Cyber Security Expert: “It is important that we reinvent cybersecurity because obviously what we have invented so far is clearly not working.

This cyber ninja, as he calls himself, has a second-degree black belt in Kung Fu and he’s on a mission to show how hacking is child’s play.

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Reuben Paul, Hacker and Cyber Security Expert: If a 12-year-old can do it. What makes it that somebody is a skilled, actual cyber terrorist? What makes it that they can’t do it?

This Bluetooth is going into new autonomous cars, autonomous drones, it’s going into medical devices.”

Paul says that the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections that we use almost every day are extremely vulnerable to hacking.

Reuben Paul, Hacker and Cyber Security Expert: “I’ll never connect to a public Wi-Fi that I don’t know.”

Journalist: “Really?!?”

Reuben Paul, Hacker and Cyber Security Expert: “Somebody can just hack into that Wi-Fi network and poison it.”

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He showed me firsthand how a hacker’s poison can spread from a Wi-Fi signal.

Reuben Paul, Hacker: “I successfully know your password.”
Journalist: “How do you know that?”
Reuben Paul, Hacker: “I’ve hacked you. Your login is “Bleep, bleep. Bleep, bleep. Bleep, bleep!”
Journalist: “Yes . . . yes . . . yes. Yep. Bleep that out!
WOW!”

Journalist: So call me gullible. You got me. It took seconds. He had my Twitter username and password using a fake page that he’d cloned after I connected to his public Wi-Fi network.

Journalist: “It’s that easy?”
Reuben Paul, Hacker: “Mm-hmm.”
Journalist: “So, in other words, if I was sitting at a Starbucks . . . I went to sign in to Twitter . . . I put it in — they got it?!?
Reuben Paul, Hacker: “Mm-hmm.”

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TV Commercial: “Now, staying in touch is easy and fun!”

Paul also hacked CloudPets Teddy Bear, which uses Bluetooth technology, allowing traveling parents to send messages back to their kids.

Journalist: “What did you do that turns that into a threat?”

Ruben Paul, Hacker: “Without any notification or any knowledge of the user, I could turn it on from my computer, which only has to be in a 30-foot (9.14 meters) radius of the bear.

So, I could stand outside someone’s residence . . .”

He turned the bear into a secret recording device!

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Journalist: “Who’s the smartest one in the family?”

The Paul family of four is hopeful about the future of cybersecurity. Ruben’s parents, Mano and Sangeeta, both work in technology — and his six-year-old brother, Etai, is even joining him on stage now.

Etai Paul, Brother: “Can you show us this?”
Reuben Paul, Hacker: “Sure, I though you’d never ask.”

Mano Paul, Mother: “As long as they shine at it and like what they do, it gives you a feeling of contentment.”

With Ruben speaking at these conferences and being paid thousands of dollars to travel there, and sometimes a speaker’s fee, do you worry that it gets a little out of control for a 12-year-old?

Mano Paul, Father: “For most kids, do it because they have a passion for it, right? It should never become a job for them.

So, if tomorrow they come back and they say, ‘I’m not interested in doing this,’ it’s perfectly fine with my wife and me.”

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In the future, I want to work for the NSA or the FBI, protecting the country against foreign and domestic cyber threats.

Journalist: “Has anyone called you? I feel like they should be recruiting you now.”

Ruben Paul, Hacker: “I’ve had some offers from the government of the Netherlands and even the (US) Department of Defense.”

Journalist: “Did you tell them, what, ‘I’ve got to graduate first’?”

Ruben Paul, Hacker: “Yeah, I want to get through 6th grade before I start thinking about that job.

For CBS This Morning, I’m David Begnaud.

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TV News Anchor: And a child shall lead them.

We reached out to CloudPets and Spiral Toys, the companies behind the teddy bear that Paul hacked. Neither responded to our requests for comment.

On its website, CloudPets says users acknowledge the company may capture audio recordings — and that it may use or store the recordings and the data contained within them.

Paul set up a non-profit to create videos that teach people about cyber dangers.

He hopes to one day study at Caltech or MIT . . . and he also aspires to be an Olympic gymnast.

News Co-Anchor: “That’s it! Busy guy! Well, the NSA may be a phone call away for him.”

News Anchor: “That’s Right. That rare NSA Olympic gymnast double-major.”
News Co-Anchor: “You never know.”

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Questions

 
Bug. The report opened with a report concerning a breach in Wall Street financial operations. True or false?

Virus. Is Reuben Paul a 32-year old with a PhD in software engineering living and working in Silicon Valley, California?

Malware. Is he a shy, nervous introvert? Does he only stay home, in his bedroom, glued to his computer?

Trojan Horse. Reuben’s nickname is “Super Hacker.” Is this right or wrong? Does he only interact with twelve-year olds in his neighborhood and at school?

Breach. Does he believe only online accounts and computers are susceptible to breaches, hacks and damages?

Firewall. What does Reuben think is the most unsecure practice? Did he do a demonstration? What did he do? What is a common scenario?

Anti-Virus Software. He comes from a workiing-class background. His parents both work in convenience stores. Is this correct or incorrect? Describe his family and background.

Delete Files. Do Reuben’s parents pressure and force him to study and master science and technology?

Identity Theft. Cute children’s toys are cuddly and perfectly harmless. Yes or no?

File Corruption. Reuben wants to create a start up — and become the next Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk. Do you agree? What are his goals and ambitions? Is he only passionate about computers?
 
 
 
Spyware. Do you experience glitches (or hacking) on your device, operating system, software, internet browser, etc?

Cyber Extortion. These days, nothing is totally safe and secure. What do you think?

Phishing. I know some (former) child prodigies. Yes or no?

Data Theft. My friends and I would like to become White Hat Hackers, software engineers, web designers, bloggers, YouTubers.

Ransomware. What might happen in the future?

Backdoor. What could or should people, tech companies and authorities do?