Whiz kid Shane Kelly is a world-record breaker — at the tender age of 16.
Shane has left older rivals across the globe standing by becoming the world’s youngest ethical hacker, five years ahead of schedule.
The Solihull College student is the youngest person on the planet to successfully complete a Certified Ethical Hacker course, which normally requires students to be at least 21.
The teenager, from Solihull, pulled off the remarkable achievement despite suffering from years of torment at the hands of school bullies — and being diagnosed a diabetic.
Now the computer “ghostbuster” has his sights set on a full-time career in IT. Shane said: “I have been interested in computers since I was 10 or 11. I was bullied in my early years at school and computers became a real hobby.
“This qualification proves your knowledge of attacks and how organisations can defend themselves — hackers can cause incredible damage to companies. I think I’ve put all my problems at school behind me. I’m a lot happier now.”
Shane’s father, Joe Kelly, who is acting managing director at Birmingham International Airport, said: “I am very proud of Shane — he has had a few bumps and knocks in life and we are very pleased for him. Computers have been a passion of his for a long time.
As long as he stays on the right side, he will not get me into trouble!”
Shane’s success has already been recognised by business experts in the IT security sector, who say the key to ethical hacking is to adopt the thinking of a hi-tech thief.
Rajive Kapoor, Head of Business Development of Security Systems Resource International, said: “Shane has great skills in the ethical hacking world and applying these skills in protecting business, demonstrating there are no minimum age limits.
“Safeguarding business assets from malicious hackers, some younger than…