Snowflake, The story

I’m back and I’m still on my own. I’ve spent the last week twiddling with my thought organizing/book writing software program and it’s now much more suited for novel rather than short story development. Once that done, I settled down to flesh out the original plot line, but before we move onto that, I want to share my ideas behind the whole thing. Bear with me; I’ll try to be brief.

World of computers is my world. And a world you know, you feel secure in. Not because you know it’s safe, but because you know where the dangers are and how to avoid them. Recently more and more people let computers into their worlds, accept them as friends and rely on assurances of salesmen that that brilliant topnotch antivirus software is all they need to be safe. I must agree, it does do a great job protecting against viruses. But what about targeted attacks…

I want to write a book about something that can happen to any one of us. Location, age, social status, connections are not important. A computer linked to the Internet and an asset that somebody else wants, are. A convenient thing in computer crime is anonymity. A virtual criminal doesn’t have to face you, doesn’t have to feel guilty, doesn’t have to care. This breeds a new type of attacker. Completely impersonal and completely in control. Your personal qualities, your achievements, your family and friends are unimportant. You and your life are irrelevant. You are a target, your computer is a weapon and your money is the motive!

Will you be able to even spot the attacker before it’s too late? And if you do, what will you do about it. In our crazy world of schedules, commitments and overflowing TODO lists, how many of us really know about computers? Things that matter. Security. Protecting your family, your wellbeing, your livelihood. Sometimes, your children – defenseless and naïve otherwise – can understand and deal with digital matters much better that you can. But, will anyone listen to them, will anyone care? They are, after all, just children.