Solihull teenager Shane Kelly is hoping to make a fortune hacking into company security systems.

But the 16-year-old IT whizzkid won't be using his skills to break any laws. For Shane is believed to be the youngest person in the world to pass the Certified Ethical Hacker course.

The certificate, normally taken by people over 21, means he's a so-called "white hat" who uses his hacking talents only for good motives.

With identity fraud on the increase, he hopes to now build a career showing companies the weaknesses of their security.

Shane said: "Some companies are very easy to hack into. With security comes inconvenience - for example, a four-letter password may be easy to remember but it is not very safe.

"Even some of the big companies are lacking. When you say hacking a lot of people associate bad things with it, whereas hacking can be for good or bad.

"White hats refers to someone who uses it in a good sense. A black hat is someone who maliciously breaks into the system for money or to gain a competitive edge or steal information."

According to Shane's father Joe, his son's hacking talents first came to light at school.

Shane then undertook his training in Birmingham with New Horizons Learning UK. The course aims to create ethical hackers to help organisations take pre-emptive measures against malicious attacks. It stems from a belief that the best way to catch a thief is to think like a thief.

As well as hacking into computer networks, students on the course are taught how to test the physical security of an organisation.

"It is about gaining access to the building," Shane said.

"A department will bring you in to see how good it is at maintaining security. You might say to someone 'I have forgotten my key, can you open this door' or sneak in through someone holding open a door to gain access.

"Someone could do a lot of damage."