Tech Journalism photography makes me WannaCry
We get it. Cyber attacks sound great on paper, but they’re not the most glamorous thing to portray visually. Last week’s unprecedented ransomware attack led to a flurry of news stories across the world that shared a common thread — the inexplicable use of stock technology photography.
Here is the story as told by stock photos taken from articles around the web.
There was a CYBER ATTACK
This cyber attack came in the form of Ransomware.
There were many victims, the most prolific(in the UK) being the NHS.
And, of course, the financial markets reacted accordingly.
We don’t know who the attacker was. What we do know is the following:
- They had hands.
2. They were probably male.
3. They were probably a male with a hood.
4. They may have been wearing sunglasses.
But how did they do it, you ask?
The current working theory is that they opened up the Internet, searched for the word PASSWORD, reached into the screen and the world was their oyster.
I know what you’re thinking, that’s just ridiculous. How could they possibly find as password in the entire Internet, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Of course, our hooded man is well equipped with the tools required to be dangerous in this modern world. Namely — the magnifying glass.
Whilst we’re here, here are some other technology concepts that we’ve just been dying to write about and now we have an excuse.
So how should one protect themselves from this, and other inevitable threats to our online existence.
Well, if you’re over 30, take off your glasses because this is where it gets complicated.
Firstly, you want padlocks. Try and padlock as much of the machine as physically possible.
Padlocking is is enough for most users, but for true protection you’ll want to get yourself a shield.
But, while it’s easy to get caught up in the jargon of a brave new world, this story like all others really just boils down to the people. Like all good stories, we have our heroes (witting or otherwise), our villains, our somewhat morally grey, our victims and our victors.
(And of course what is a hero in the technology industry without their Pizza.)