Oh look, another hack attack that could have been prevented

I could sit here and talk about the latest big “hack attack” to strike the civilized world, but these have become so tedious. The story is always the same: hackers from scary place (here, China and Eastern Europe) attack Western government/corporation (here, corporations) for unknown, shadowy reasons. Blah, blah, blah. Instead, I’ll take this opportunity to remind you all of a very basic thing: please use the Internet with care. Don’t go clicking things willy nilly.

The story here is that hackers were able to penetrate German defenses by phishing. Yes, phishing. It’s the equivalent of, “You win Cool Thing! Please click here!”

And people click! Come on, people! Stop this nonsense already!

I understand that I’m talking to people who already know not to click every little thing on the Internet, but please tell your friends or something.

So many of the world’s computing problems could be solved if A) people let the Windows firewall do its thing and B) use some common sense when online.

Let’s say you’re walking down the street. A man in a shiny coat approaches you and says, “Good sir! Today you have won the Nigerian lottery! Oh, you don’t remember buying a ticket? Don’t worry, good sir, for the lottery is compiled using the latest United Nations statistics. Just give me your social security card and I’ll get back to you as soon as I get off the phone with the prime minister. Again, congratulations!”

Sigh.

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