At 14, Aaron Bond, has already designed six apps, including the $1 "Spud Run" game and the free "Pumpkin Run." On his company website, the English teenager calls himself the "youngest developer in Europe."
But Bond ran into trouble when he let his curiosity get the best of him and decided to see if he could hack into his school's computer. He was successful ... but when his hacking was discovered, he got kicked out of school.
"I was a bit scared and curious and I wondered if I would be able to get in again," Bond, who attended King Edward VI College in Devon, UK, said, according to a report in the UK's Telegraph newpaper.
Attempting password variations based on a set of keywords he claimed to have seen written on an office whiteboard, he was able to access many areas of the school's network, from the school newsletter to student documentation to staff accounts -- and even the vice-principal's financial records, according to the Telegraph and another report from a Devon news site.
Bond was apologetic once he realized the seriousness of the situation, says the article. "I am very sorry and if I had known the consequences I never would have done it."
Before making the decision to permanently expel him, the school had penalized Bond with a five-day suspension, while police took DNA samples, a mugshot and his fingerprints.
His mum doesn't think the punishment fit the crime -- and even blamed the school for lax cybersecurity.
"I think the security of the school computer system should be a lot better," she said. "A 14-year-old boy should not have been able to get into the system. I don't see why they can't give Aaron a second chance."
Maybe they already had. This wasn't the first time Bond had tried to infiltrate the school's system, admitting to the principal he had tried breaking in at other times.
For a kid whose favorite movie is "The Social Network" and who looked up to Steve Jobs for design inspiration, it's a mighty humbling moment, a lesson he can carry forward into what looked like a promising career. Hopefully, instead of breaching IT systems, he'll stick to designing apps.
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