In a powerful demonstration of redemption and guidance, two former cybercriminals have delivered a stark warning to Manchester students about the realities of illegal hacking, urging them to channel their digital talents into legitimate cybersecurity careers instead.
From Prison Cells to Classroom Lessons
The unusual educational session took place at Connell Co-op College near Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, where convicted hackers Conor Freeman and Ricky Handschumacher shared their cautionary tales with attentive sixth-form students. Both men served prison sentences for their involvement in cryptocurrency thefts before turning their lives around to work in ethical hacking.
The Dark Reality Behind Cybercrime Glamour
Freeman, a 26-year-old from Dublin who served nearly three years for his role in a $2 million cryptocurrency theft, described how what began as innocent Minecraft gaming escalated into serious criminal activity. "I stumbled on these various different dark-net hacking forums and that's when things really started to escalate," he explained. "I just fell into these different communities, different groups, befriended a couple of different people, and then found myself involved with large-scale cryptocurrency theft."
The former hackers painted a far less glamorous picture of cybercrime than Hollywood typically portrays, describing it as involving "online dramas" where participants engage in "swatting and doxing" each other - practices that involve revealing people's real identities online and can lead to real-world consequences like property damage.
Gaming Skills: A Double-Edged Sword
Fergus Hay, co-founder and chief executive of The Hacking Games - the startup behind the initiative - emphasised the strong connection between gaming abilities and hacking potential. "There's a 100% overlap between gaming and hacking," he stated, describing gaming as a "live laboratory for skills development."
Hay explained that skills learned through gaming, particularly "modding" or creating software to alter video games, translate directly to both illegal hacking and legitimate cybersecurity work. "What you've got is a whole generation of natural-born hackers who've got incredible aptitude, but they're invisible," he noted. "No one's seen their skill sets because they aren't advertised on LinkedIn."
A New Path for Digital Talent
The Hacking Games has developed an AI-powered test designed to identify skilled gamers who could transition to cybersecurity careers, helping companies detect vulnerabilities in their IT systems through "red teaming" - the practice of ethical hacking where experts simulate cyberattacks to test defences.
Handschumacher, who served four years in prison for his involvement in the same crypto heist as Freeman, joined the Manchester event via video link from the United States. In a poignant reflection, he told students: "I would have taken a different path had I known that you could be paid a lot of money to do the right thing."
Corporate Backing for Positive Change
The initiative enjoys support from the Co-op, which suffered a significant ransomware attack in April last year that cost the retailer approximately £120 million in lost profits. Rob Elsey, the Co-op group's chief digital officer who led the organisation's recovery from the hack, explained the motivation behind supporting such talks.
"This is about helping young people recognise that the digital skills they already have can be a force for good, protecting people, organisations and communities rather than being misused or exploited," Elsey stated. The retailer plans to expand The Hacking Games talks across its 38 school academies throughout the year.
Student Response and Wider Implications
Seventeen-year-old computing student Suheil summarised the lesson many took from the session: "There's great opportunities for you to go into computing, but you have to be watchful of what you're doing because if you do something wrong, it will quickly harm your future."
The Manchester event comes against a backdrop of increasing cybercrime involving young people. Last July, four individuals including three teenagers were arrested in connection with cyber-attacks on the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, and Harrods, highlighting the growing need for early intervention and positive guidance.
As Freeman now works as an ethical hacker for The Hacking Games after serving 11 months of his sentence, his story - and that of his former associate Handschumacher - serves as a powerful testament to the possibility of redemption and the importance of channelling digital talents toward constructive, well-compensated careers in cybersecurity rather than destructive criminal enterprises.
