Anti-Social Media

“It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.” – Ken Thompson

The results of the Jung Typology Test that Julie Lomoe mentioned in her guest blog here on Monday, confirmed that I’m an introvert. However, I never considered my self antisocial—until now, that is.

I was just starting to get a little more comfortable using Twitter. I even installed TweetDeck. Then last week, some slimy (I deleted a few adjectives here, but you’re welcome to use your imagination) scumbag somehow hacked into my account and sent out direct mail spam messages in my name. I can’t tell you how angry and upset this makes me.

My apologies to all of you who received the junk messages. I am so appreciative that several people knew I wouldn’t send out that sort of mail and informed me that my Twitter account had probably been the victim of a hacker. I followed their suggestions and changed my password immediately, but it was almost two full days before I could access my account again. I kept getting the message that I was temporarily locked out because of too many failed attempts to enter the correct password. I guess the creep didn’t want to give up too easily.

I know it’s not a serious crime. Nothing tangible was stolen and I wasn’t physically harmed, yet I felt violated. My personal space had been infringed upon and it made me very uncomfortable. Though I have different passwords for various accounts, I felt the need to go into all of my accounts and change my password, just in case. Making the changes didn’t take that much time, but recalling the proper sign-in for each situation taxes my limited memory function. I find myself calling that hacker all sorts of unpleasant names as I fumble with my new passwords.

Closing my Twitter account crossed my mind, but then I felt that would be like hunching my shoulders and fading to the background while letting the class bully get away with being a jerk. Instead, I plan on hanging in there, but I’m doing things differently. I am going to be a lot less sociable on my social Twitter network.

I plan to be much more selective when I hit the ‘follow back’ button. If you do not have any information or a website on your profile, you may indeed be a very nice person with interesting Tweets, but I am not going to follow you. I need to know more.

If I know you personally or if you’re an online friend, don’t worry, you’re safe. Those I don’t know and who have nothing to do with the world of writing, publishing or editing, you’re history—I’m unfollowing. I hope you don’t take it personal. Blame it on the malicious and despicable hackers who are taking the social out of social networking.

In January, I blogged about Hackers and Virus Writers. I didn’t understand the purpose then and I don’t understand it now. I just wish the people who felt the need to do this sort of thing would get a life of their own and quit disrupting others.

Have you had problems with hackers? Do you have any prevention tips?

Thanks for stopping by and letting me rant. I feel much better now.

Tags: Ken Thompson, Jung Typology test, Twitter , tweetdeck, hackers , passwords, antisocial, Julie Lomoe

Hackers and Virus Writers

“In the old days, people robbed stagecoaches and knocked off armored trucks. Now they're knocking off servers.” -Richard Power

Several months ago, a hacker removed my husband’s yahoo email address book. I don’t mean they simply copied the info—after sending spam to every name listed, the data was wiped out as though the book never existed. It wasn’t the end of the world and he had the means for retrieving the lost information but it’s the senselessness of the act that bothers me. As a writer, my computer is my lifeline and to think someone can just sneak in and snatch something away is more than disturbing to me.

What makes a person take this sort of action against someone they do not know? What do they get out of it? Does it make them feel smarter than the rest of us? Are they actually proud of their achievements? Does it give them a thrill? I haven’t found all the answers yet but I did come across a couple of good articles on the subject.

I also learned that that virus writers and hackers are two completely separate groups. Virus writers, according to the article 7 Things to Know About Virus Writers, are predominately under the age of 30 and male. Their purposes vary from exploring code, to gaining notoriety or making some sort of political/social/personal statement. Their targets are generally random. The article goes on to say that it’s not that difficult to write a virus. Now that little tidbit is scary to me.

The article Hackers and Hacking by Doug Smith describes hackers as “…ordinary people with a great deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a computer, a good understanding of human nature, and plenty of time to kill.” According to the article there are arguments in favor of hacking (which was an eye-opener for me) as well as against. He gives some good advice on protecting yourself as well as a list of resources to stay current on new threats and to learn about tools that can protect your data.

Personally I think the argument in favor of hacking was pretty weak. To me there is no excuse for doing something that causes so many people so much distress. Hacking into anything that is not yours is no different than breaking into someone’s house or car. Planting a virus that causes a computer to crash or programs to be destroyed is like a form of arson without a match. I think offenders should be punished just like any other criminal.

What are your views? Do you have a hacking or virus story to share?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Richard Power, Hackers, Virus, Yahoo, address book, spam,