Barrie K. Balemian
The truth is out there... right here in this book.
If you scare easily, then do not buy this book! You will be shocked to the core, and your view of the Internet and technology will never be the same. You will be given the tools and knowledge to protect your own computer as if you were a virus scanner.
Discover the dirty tricks used by attackers.
Tons of tips and tweaks to protect your computer!
Learn the Twenty-six Surfing Commandments.
Discover the 100% unchanged, untainted, unedited, unbiased, cold, hard, truth about:
• Hackers
• Script Kiddies
• Phishing
• Popups
• Spam
• Viruses & Trojans
• Adware & Spyware
• Sluggish Computer Performance
• Security Warnings
• Browser Hijacking Attempts
• Keyloggers
• Backdoors
• XDCC Bots
• Botnet Armies
• Buffer Overflow Exploits
• Denial of Service Attacks
I guarantee to you, if you follow the twenty-six commandments outlined in this book, you will have provided yourself with safety and protection far greater than any virus scanner or security software in the world.
My name is Barrie Balemian. Ever since I was little, my view of reality and life has been unique. You could call me a “macro-thinker”, someone who sees the big picture. As I grew older, I began to develop an unquenchable interest in computers.
For the past eight years of my life I have been studying the growth of computer technology. This involves computer hackers, online trends, online companies, computer viruses, and the growth of email and online communications.
I took a step back and looked at the big picture. What I saw disgusted me so much that on Friday, March 26, 2004 at 2:05:51 AM I awoke from my dreams with an insight. My dreams did not end, as I awoken with a dream of writing a book that would put an end to the disgust that I saw. This book was written to drive a long arrow into the heart of the beast that I call The Dark Side of the Internet.
Part 1: The Dark Side of the Internet
Chapter 1: Introduction
My name is Barrie Kenneth Balemian II. Ever since I was little, my view of reality and life has been unique. You could call me a “macro-thinker”, someone who sees the big picture as opposed to the details. As I grew older, I began to develop an unquenchable interest in computers. Starting with my father’s business computer, I crashed just about every computer I touched. However, each time I demolished a computer, something new was created simultaneously. Knowledge began constructing itself in my head. I began to recognize what made computers tick and crash. What started as a weak and flimsy foundation in my childish mind grew into a magnificent structure with a strong foundation. I began independently studying computer software and programming. In the fifth grade I created my first computer program and by the age of seventeen I had taught myself things that no college or university in the world teaches, knowledge that cannot be found in any book or resource available right now.
My parents used to criticize me for staying on the computer for countless hours of the day, and told me that there was more to life than chatting online. I never told my parents what I was doing on the computer. They thought I was sitting online chatting or playing computer games. My parents used to punish me by taking away my computer privileges. The truth is that for the past eight years of my life I have been studying the growth of computer technology. This involves computer hackers, online trends, online companies, computer viruses, and the growth of email and online communications.
More importantly, I took a step back and looked at the big picture. Common computer users lack the knowledge necessary to protect themselves from danger, and this lack of knowledge is being exploited by companies for financial gain. Computer hackers exploit this same lack of knowledge to pirate copyrighted material, spread viruses, and mine personal information. What I saw disgusted me so much that on Friday, March 26, 2004 at 2:05:51 AM I suddenly awoke from my dreams with an insight. However, my dreams did not end, as I awoken with a dream. A dream of writing a book that would put an end to the disgust that I saw. At 2:00 AM in the morning, I sat at my computer and began work on this very book that you now hold in your hands. This book was written to drive a long arrow into the heart of the beast that I call The Dark Side of the Internet.
I would like to ask you to help me change things. Help me protect people from the evil beast. Yourself, your friends, your family, even people that you have not yet met are at risk of being exploited, or have already been exploited by hackers or companies. Lets put a stop to popup advertisements, credit card fraud, software piracy, computer viruses, and spam email. Tell your friends and family about this book. Help me tell the world. I am relying on you to help me make this effort a success. Together we can stop the endless abuse found on the Internet and restore the peaceful cyberspace that we as human beings have destroyed.
* * *
Chapter 2: Computers are Mindless Robots
As the human race advances and technology becomes increasingly complex, we begin to rely more and more on computers. Jobs that were once occupied by humans are now performed much faster and more efficiently by computers. Not only are computers emotionless, they do not become tired or restless. Computers do not have mood swings or need to take lunch breaks. Most importantly, computers do not think freely. In a sense, computers are mindless robots that we as humans mass-produce in factories, turn on, and enslave.
Are we safe placing our lives in the hands of mindless machines? Computer systems control your bank account, the stock market, websites, military weapons, satellites, security systems, airplanes, traffic lights, television, power grids for towns and cities, and your identity. Take the Y2K situation for example. We as a race did not even expect that computers might become confused when the date reaches the year 2000. Imagine something as simple as a number confusing computers and causing every computer in the world to crash. Something to that degree would leave us with nothing. You would have no bank account, the stock market would not exist, websites and companies would be left with nothing, military defenses would not work, satellites would be inoperable, security systems would be disabled, airplanes could not fly, traffic lights would not work, television would be disabled, power grids would be disabled, and you would be left without an identity. We have placed our lives into very fragile hands.
On July 16, 2004 the movie I, Robot was released starring Will Smith. Will Smith plays a detective who is investigating a mysterious murder. The suspect of the murder is the victim’s own personal robot. Due to the fact that the creator of these robots had given each robot three laws to obey to prevent them from harming human beings, it was near impossible for Will Smith to prove that a robot killed a human being. Ultimately, the robot broke its three laws. Something that was conceived as impossible became possible.
The three laws can be used in an analogy with anti-virus software, and other protections that we give to our personal computers. Anti-virus software may help computers protect human beings from harm, but such software can be tricked. Computers are capable of mistakes, and they can do unpredictable things.
We try to make computers smart by creating anti-virus software, security patches, improving software, and creating security protocols. However, even with the most advanced security protocols in the world, there is no such thing as completely safe. Computers cannot think or recognize danger. Computers do what they are told, and therefore they can be tricked. This is the reason why giving computers software is not enough to truly protect us. Just like the robots from the movie I,Robot, computers will break rules that were not meant to be broken. As a result, your computer came become infected with viruses and your personal data can easily become compromised.
Human beings, the operators of such machinery, need to have the knowledge to help computers protect them from harm. Think of your computer’s security as a jigsaw puzzle. Computers are armed with anti-virus software and other protective software, yet there are pieces missing to the puzzle. The remaining pieces are found in personal knowledge of protecting your computer. This book will complete the puzzle, and empower you to join forces with anti-virus software and fully protect yourself and your computer.
