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posted by martyb on Saturday February 15 2020, @12:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-be-too-secure... dept.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/14/silly_police_infosec_parental_advice_poster/

The UK's National Crime Agency has publicly distanced itself from a poster urging parents to call police if their child has installed Kali Linux, Tor or – brace yourself – Discord.

Issued by the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (WMROCU) via local area councils, the poster in question lists a slack handful of common infosec tools – as well as some that clearly have nothing to do with computer security.

Should your child install Kali Linux, virtual machines (the image on the poster looks like Virtualbox) or internet privacy tool Tor, West Midlands Police wants to know immediately. And if – Heaven forfend – your sprog installs Metasploit to learn how to secure code, uses free chat service for gamers Discord, or gets a Wi-Fi Pineapple for research, you may as well report straight to your nearest prison and abandon your tainted offspring forever.

Here is a link to the poster in question.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 15 2020, @12:36PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 15 2020, @12:36PM (#958475)

    Since the police started requiring university degrees, it appears they've attracted people so completely retarded they don't even know what policing is. [bbc.co.uk]

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  • (Score: 2) by Nuke on Saturday February 15 2020, @12:56PM (6 children)

    by Nuke (3162) on Saturday February 15 2020, @12:56PM (#958481)

    But according to ZDNet [zdnet.com], the police deny being involved with the poster. It is as if someone has put police logos on it to give it weight, but without their permission.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by khallow on Saturday February 15 2020, @01:21PM (5 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 15 2020, @01:21PM (#958488) Journal

      Update 17.58 GMT: WMROCU told us:

      "This poster was produced to raise awareness among teachers, parents, and guardians to help them advise children how to stay safe online. The poster highlighted some of the digital tools their children might be using at home.

      The software mentioned is legal and, in the vast majority of cases is used legitimately, giving great benefit to those interested in developing their digital skills. However, as with any software, it can also be misused by those with less legitimate intentions. The purpose of this poster was to provide a quick reference guide to the range of software available, so those with parental responsibility for children and young people can start up a conversation about the safe and legal use of computers and technology."

      Apparently, the denial is being walked back a little.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 15 2020, @04:30PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 15 2020, @04:30PM (#958533)

        When I was still a teenager, someone explained to me that you could use a pencil to draw your own porn -
        probably because I asked him to buy me a top shelf magazine.

        Being terrible at drawing, I decided I could write it instead. The great thing about PCs is that you can delete it afterwards.
        And, since the invention of semiconductor memory*, if you don't save to disk, there is probably no evidence left after
          powerdown.

        This experience demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that mentoring can corrupt and deprave, pens and pencils
        are tools of the pornographer, and that PCs are the work of the devil (especially when PC stands for Police Constibule).

        * In the olden days, we had porn on PDP8s with core memory and Teletypes with hard copy ONLY UPPER CASE.

        • (Score: 2) by Nuke on Saturday February 15 2020, @08:48PM (3 children)

          by Nuke (3162) on Saturday February 15 2020, @08:48PM (#958600)

          But to draw your own porn you need a model, not so easy for a teenager to find, unless it is tentacle porn when you just use imagination.

          • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday February 16 2020, @04:02AM (2 children)

            by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday February 16 2020, @04:02AM (#958685) Homepage

            You can find a clothed woman in a magazine and lay a sheet of paper over it and trace all the details except for the clothing. Then draw nipples on the boob outlines and a small triangle of fur by pencil burnishing.

            • (Score: 2) by pipedwho on Sunday February 16 2020, @04:48AM (1 child)

              by pipedwho (2032) on Sunday February 16 2020, @04:48AM (#958694)

              Porn is != to nudity

              • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Sunday February 16 2020, @05:41AM

                by Mykl (1112) on Sunday February 16 2020, @05:41AM (#958710)

                Porn is != to nudity

                No, but lots of people use nude imagery as porn. And, per GPs comment, you could easily create 'prurient' material through tracing over clothed figures and introducing your own 'enhancements'.