Hackers

... In the beginning, there were computers the size of washing machines. No one had heard of �Who Wants to be a Millionaire?� or a 3:47 mile time; stamps for �snail mail� cost an average of sixteen cents. And on the sixth day, IBM said, �Let there be personal computers. Smaller, easier to use computers.� And then it was so.

Today, instead of spending hours upon countless hours drudging through old moldy books in the public library, we spend those hours surfing the digital highways and pit stops of the Internet. We waste the majority of our afternoons emailing friends we�ve never met and chatting with people whom we hope to never meet.

The majority of us are wary about distributing too much personal information. Our names are all the same; we are the John and Jane Doe�s of the world. We all live in Los Angeles or New York. No one in this digital world knows the real �us�, so we�re completely safe from those electronic identity thieves and such... aren�t we?

I love the Internet. There are those horrible weekends when there is absolutely nothing to do and all my friends are out of town. I have homework, but that can wait. I sit down at my computer, stare blankly at the monitor screen, and think to myself, �Man oh man, I do love my computer.� I click on the little �Internet Explorer� icon and await the music of the dial-up.

I first check my email, hoping for a letter from one guy in particular. Next, I go to the High School Runner�s Forum to see if there are any new messages or arguments. And then... I turn on ICQ, an Internet Instant Messenger. I must see if my dear friend Ronny Mash (*name changed to protect the guilty) is on.
I rarely chat anymore on ICQ because of Mister Ronny Mash. As it turned out, he was a hacker. My dear, innocent friend Ronny who told cheesier jokes than Mr. Johnston was an evil computer hacker. A hacker! And it could happen to YOU!! Oh yes, even you. Back in the day before the advent of personal computers, hackers were commonly known as �computerphiles,� a person totally engrossed in computer programming and computer technology. In the 1980�s, hackers were more accurately referring to someone who secretively invades innocent people�s computers. They tamper with the programs and data stored on the PC. These people can destroy personal records. Programs hackers set up called �viruses� or �worms� can replicate like an actual disease and spread from computer to computer, erasing megabytes of information that may get in the virus� way and causing all sorts of computer malfunctions. In my case, it was making my CD thing open and close as though my computer were possessed. It was a truly horrible experience and you will learn from my mistakes.

Number 1: Be normal. Do nothing to attract the attention of these �computerphiles.� In the end, they�ll always find you anyhow, but at least you didn�t encourage them.

Number 2: If you must go into chat rooms, be wary of who you talk to. Though this has little to do with hackers and is just a warning, give out as little personal information as humanly possible.

Number 3: If people have a place where they can read your ICP-Number (I�m still not sure what it is exactly) and you can get rid of it from public viewing, by all means, get rid of it. From what I understand, the hackers of the world can use this to get into your computer. Do NOT let these heathens invade your privacy.

Number 4: Don�t download anything from someone you don�t know well. In fact, stay away from downloading most things. This is how Mister cheesy-jokes Ronny Mash himself got into my computer.

I only hope, for your sake, hackers never become anything but a story in your life, for it is not an enjoyable experience dealing with them. I got off easy and had a friend who knew a lot about computers. He was able to find the guy responsible for my grief. But there are others who weren�t so lucky; they had their computers completely destroyed by hackers and had to buy a new one.

So remember next time you�re talking to that Rico Suave guy on the Internet. Remember who he might be and what he�s capable of doing. Oh... and for you Ronny Mash�s out there. You�d better watch out for us computer illiterates, we�ll be back and stronger than ever.


HACKERS: you don't bother me, i wonder bother you.