Tech-savvy youth could plug a widening skills gap as employers seek to combat the growing threat of cybercrime and avert mass disruption to public and private lives. But the industry is failing to provide a clear path for young people to find work, hone their skills, and serve society. Instead, they are being tempted to exacerbate cybercrime, rather than prevent it.

In a wide-ranging new survey of 12,000 consumers and IT professionals from across the US and Europe, Kaspersky Lab found under-25s, highly skilled and highly impressionable, are already inured to the shock of large-scale cyber hacks. Their concern only marginally outruns their curiosity, and even regard, for these types of crimes. In fact, 57% of under-25s consider hacking to be an ‘impressive’ skill and only 35% of all respondents feel uncomfortable about people who have the skills to hack.