Cyber Attack

 

What happens when you turn on your iPad or cell phone or laptop and get a 404 message? Reboot, troubleshoot then call your service provider and get in a queue.

As much as we now depend on communication, information, research and entertainment, how long can we go without?

From personally watching people walking and flying and driving staring at their handheld screens under a spell of absorption, I wonder how long can we exist without.

There are still places on this planet that does not provide wi-fi. Gasp! There are still people who have never logged on and forgotten their passwords. Egad!

Yet it seems most of the ‘civilized’ world turns on their electronics before they take their daily dump. It is an addiction to FOMO and I’m as guilty as anyone else.

I’m old enough to remember writing with pen on paper and placing a stamp on an envelope to send a text to someone else and waiting days or months for a reply.

If not, a frequent storm knocking out the power grid and waiting for the dedicate linemen to restring the world back to us, what if it was a cyber-attack?

Some blue meanie who wishes to remove communication for some sort of feverish dedicated cause or mere money. With a click of a mouse, the safe anti-virus/malware/whatever someone can code protection is breached, and all your electronic devices are rendered useless. With all the repetitive pushes on the button, there is no response.

At this point, you may (dare I say it) talk face to face with another human being. Sorry but talking to your cat or dog won’t help. Talking to another human may also be foray into complaining without a solution.

The ultimate end maybe a cyber-attack. Someone somewhere ‘could’ eliminate all the power grid. Someone with ill intensions ‘could’ cut all communication lines. Someone who might carry a weapon to perform a mass shooting, but that is not enough; set off ALL the nuclear missiles in the world. Self-extermination.

I’ve had a few instances of total disconnection and survived. I’ve sat in the dark with pin and paper and wrote a note to myself. Then the lights came back on and I repeated my addiction.