A poster produced by the West Midlands Regional Organized Crime Unit (WMROCU) and bearing the logo of the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) warns that children that they use software such as Tor Browser, Kali Linux, Discover and Metasploit could be the next generation hacker.
The warning was posted online by the user Twitter G_IW and caused a lot of reactions on the internet. Many were the ones who criticized the British authorities because this particular poster reaches its limits misinformations.
"If you see any of this (software) on their computer or you have a child you think is hacking, let us know so we can give advice and get involved in the positive outcome of the diversion," the warning states.
Software that authorities say could be used for malicious purposes includes the TOR Browser, virtual machines, Kali Linux, WiFi Pineapple, Discord, and Metasploit.
The development team of Kali Linux, a Linux distribution that is supposed to usesmainly for penetration testing, greeted the idea of the poster:
"We have to admit that it's nice that they give children a roadmap for what they need to get started. We all know that the easiest way to get a child to do something is to tell them they can't or shouldn't do it. "
But on the other hand, the NCA says it has nothing to do with the warning, despite the fact that its logo appears on the poster.
"NCA was not involved in the production or release of this poster. "There are many tools that children use, some of which can be used for both legal and illegal purposes, so it is vital that parents and children know how these tools can be used safely." Reported the Twitter service.
West Midlands Police say the whole idea was to showcase some of the tools that can be used for legitimate or malicious purposes, more to raise awareness among adults.