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If there are no hackers, won't it be possible to highlight the power of scientific and technological personnel?
Hackers, this mysterious word, seems to have always been a long way away from our lives. Hidden behind a computer screen, they can manipulate the virtual world at will, manipulate the flow of billions of funds, and make the defense system collapse in an instant.
Such descriptions make hackers look like supermen, with powerful abilities that are difficult for ordinary people to match.
But in fact, real hackers are not far away. And right next to us, a seemingly ordinary child, maybe a gifted teenage hacker.
It may seem unbelievable, but Wang Zhengyang's story tells us that hackers are right next to us.
A talented hacker boy
Wang Zhengyang was born in 2001 in a warm family in Beijing, and when he was eight years old, China's Internet was gradually entering the homes of ordinary people, and the popular "growing vegetables" game in QQ Space attracted countless children to indulge.
Wang Zhengyang also joined the "army of vegetable stealers", but soon found the game monotonous and boring, and he began to look for something he was interested in online.
One day, he stumbled upon a post discussing a website being hacked.
What is a hacker and how is a website attacked?
Wang Zhengyang was full of curiosity about this unknown word, and he began to study the relevant knowledge to try to understand the mystery behind it.
His parents did not stop him because of this, but gave him the greatest support. They gave Wang Zhengyang a top-of-the-line computer and bought a large number of programming books for him to study.
After that, he did not hesitate to plunge into the world of programming and began his journey of self-study.
At first, everything was not easy, and he felt that he had no idea where to start with the dense English abbreviations, and he had to take out the dictionary and look it up word by word, and the progress was slow.
Irritability when he failed, this was something Wang Zhengyang had to face, but he didn't give up but gritted his teeth and persevered.
Sometimes he gets stuck on his programming knowledge and doesn't know how to move forward, so he puts down his computer for a while to give his brain a break. In retrospect, it is often found that the previous mistake was just a small punctuation mark.
While Wang Zhengyang is studying hard, his programming ability is also improving rapidly.
At the age of 11, he used his accumulated pocket money to create his first website, in which he put a program he had written.
A year later, he completely rewrote the site's architecture, building it entirely from his own code.
It seems incredible that an eight-year-old child has learned how high he can build a website on his own in just a few years.
Wang Zhengyang's programming talent also began to show, and once, he found a vulnerability in password verification on a shopping website. If you take advantage of this loophole, you can modify the price of goods at will, and you can "buy" luxury goods worth 2,500 yuan for 1 cent.
The news is undoubtedly hugely alluring for a teenage child. But Wang Zhengyang did not succumb to the temptation, instead, he reported the vulnerability to the webmaster and has not yet asked for any bounty.
This fully demonstrates Wang Zhengyang's determination to become a "white hat hacker".
In the group of hackers, according to the different concepts they uphold, they can be divided into "black hats", "white hats", etc. Wang Zhengyang is determined not to use his technology to engage in illegal acts, but to become a "white hat hacker" who guards network security.
The germination of this sense of justice indicates what a great cyber guardian Wang Zhengyang will become in the future.
If Wang Zhengyang's first step was to find the loopholes of the shopping website, then the second step was to "meet unexpectedly" with 360 Company.
Wang Zhengyang, a well-known Internet security company in China, submitted system vulnerabilities to more than 100 educational websites. The move came as a surprise to 360's security managers, who never imagined that the vulnerabilities would be discovered by a teenage child.
And Wang Zhengyang's next choice further strengthened his determination to become a "white hat" in the future.
In 2014, at the age of 13, he was invited to speak at the China Internet Security Conference, becoming the youngest speaker at the conference. When asked about his dream, Wang Zhengyang said without hesitation:
He wants to be the guardian of cybersecurity.
A child's talents and pursuits indicate a bright future, but too dazzling talents can sometimes become a heavy burden. To some extent, Wang Zhengyang is also facing such a dilemma.
Hacking into the school website to avoid homework?
It all started a few years ago, when Wang Zhengyang was 12 years old, he was still in junior high school in a well-known middle school in Beijing. One day, he had a whim and wanted to test his strength, so he hacked into the school's answer system.
Although this act was not malicious, it was discovered by the school, and Wang Zhengyang was called to the office.
Surprisingly, the school did not blame Wang Zhengyang, but realized that this was a gifted child.
With the cooperation of his parents, the school gave Wang Zhengyang the greatest understanding and support, and did not dampen his interest in learning programming. This was a very valuable educational experience for Wang Zhengyang.
But after this incident was seized by the media, it was misinterpreted and exaggerated. There are reports that Wang Zhengyang hacked into the school system because he didn't want to do his homework, and flaunted that he could take illegal actions to avoid homework.
These reports grossly distort the facts, but they label Wang Zhengyang a "problem teenager."
In the next few years, Wang Zhengyang continued to have doubts about whether his technology came from himself, and some even thought that he was a hype gimmick created by a certain company.
These questioning voices entangled Wang Zhengyang, making him feel inexplicable under the eyes of the outside world.
Especially after he went to study abroad, more doubts appeared.
Some students commented:
Wang Zhengyang is not outstanding in class, and the teacher does not think he is a programming genius. These evaluations are biased by default and are not objective and fair.
In fact, Wang Zhengyang's technology has indeed been accumulated through his own efforts for many years.
We can't deny his efforts because he is young, talent is important, but more importantly, his own tireless dedication.
This also shows from the side that the higher the person holds, the heavier the fall.
Wang Zhengyang became the focus of attention of all parties for a while, carrying too many expectations. But after all, he is just an ordinary child, and he will also have ups and downs in learning.
We should not demand a child based on a preconceived impression, but rather look at each child's growth in peace.
Now Wang Zhengyang is 21 years old and is in a new stage of life. His studies in China have ended and he is continuing his studies in the United States. He hopes to find the differences between China and the United States in the field of computer science, and to improve and improve himself by summarizing and regularizing them.
He is also looking forward to returning from his studies and contributing to the cybersecurity of his motherland.
The twists and turns of these years have not dampened his interest in programming, and he continues to explore it on this path.
In 2014, Wang Zhengyang was invited to participate in the China Internet Security Conference, and the time of his last Weibo was also stuck in 2016!
But no matter what the outside world thinks, he sticks to his heart. Maybe one day in the future, we will see Wang Zhengyang in the field of cybersecurity.
His story tells us that hackers are not far away, and may be all around us, but every step on the path of a child's growth needs to be careful and understood.
We should not ask for a child with the eyes of an adult, but give full respect and encouragement, so that every child can grow up healthy under the sun.
Wang Zhengyang shows us that hackers can be the embodiment of matching justice. They don't have to use technology to disrupt it, but they can also protect the security of the network.
In this regard, netizens also commented:
Looking forward to returning home!
Genius boy, the child's perseverance is worthy of praise!
Parents are the main factor in children's success! If they are hindered by their parents on the road to growth, it is rare to have today's Wang Zhengyang!
I hope that he will count his words and make more contributions to the country when he grows up.
Wang Zhengyang is the youngest hacker in China, learning programming at the age of 8 and building a website at the age of 12.
If the youth is strong, the country will be strong!
A child's dream is guiding him to the side of the light. Let us look at every child with warmth and illuminate every talent with hope.
[Disclaimer] The process and pictures described in the article are from the Internet, and this article aims to advocate positive social energy, no vulgar and other bad guidance. If it involves copyright or character infringement issues, please contact us in time, and we will delete the content as soon as possible!
Resources:
China's youngest hacker "8-year-old touched the Internet, wrote programming code and knocked out the computer (1). Beijing News. [2023-08-29].
Capital Cyber Security Day Middle School Students Report School Website Security Flaws. Phoenix.com. [2014-09-28].