Napkin Scrawl #3 - Hackers

Minutes, hours, days have passed…the clock ticks on… Life continues, good or bad, happy or sad, we carry on with our life’s numbered days.

I spend multiple hours behind a screen, hacking my way, creating multiple windows to numerous beautiful homes for all to look in. Creating something of beauty is where you will find my heart’s desire. Code, images -- images, codes… all day, everyday, non-stop.

Imagine how I feel when I find that someone has found an open door or open window into one of my newly made creations. They have illegally entered one of my homes and bedded for more than a night. Instead of them breaking in and leaving, elated by the fact that they have gained access, they proceed by building their own home inside my home. Each day they squat, they gain more and more rights to the greater home. They grow like an amoeba, slowly digesting my home.

Enraged by the fact that I have become a fool, angered to the point of explosive verbal behavior, I search all folders, files, and scripts… High and low, in every crevice, nook, and doorway, to find HOW my home invasion occurred, HOW my creation was defiled. I find a small hatch, hidden beneath a rug, deep inside my home. This room, primarily used for storage, overlooked in its importance for many years, was my culprit’s port of entry. My home invader knew what he was doing, entering through the equivalent of a basement in this home, my creation.

As I remain oblivious to the determination of my home invader, he hacks away, finding weaknesses in code I use but never wrote. He chips away at the pre-manufactured framework of my creation. Once he has chipped away enough, he inserts his own code, a self-building house of his own. He’s a squatter, poaching on the resources of another, sucking my time and livelihood away.

Upon further analysis I find that the code I use yet never wrote, the pre-manufactured framework used to help build this home had upgrades made available that fortified its structure and closed off poorly made code. Had I known earlier that these upgrades were available; I might have thwarted the hacker’s attempt at access into this beautiful home, my creation.

Today, I sit here feeling violated, remorseful and defeated, beating myself again, knowing now what more I could have done to protect my creation. All I can do now is clean house, clean up the mess left by his amoebic code that once resided in my creation. I’ve changed the locks and closed all doors and windows as best I know how. Squatters, hackers, all are vermin and must be eradicated before too much is swallowed away by their greediness. Therefore, I’ve engaged the services of my tech support to exterminate any residual effects of these vermin.

Perhaps now I can rest assured that he no longer lives in THIS house, my creation. Only time will tell. However, now I have learned my lesson. I have been reminded once again of the importance of making upgrades whenever possible, and changing locks regularly.