A Short “Computer Sci-Fi”

Have you read the news recently?

The world is in a state of instability. Whole countries are going on curfews and lockdowns. Showrooms, malls, theatres are shut. Only those industries and businesses are functioning well which do not require gathering people(Netflix, Facebook, any internet based company) and those who are exempt from restrictions(e-commerce of essentials, grocery stores etc). All this is because of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic.

If you were asked a few months ago, the probability of people not coming out of their houses for such an extended period, restrictions and measures at a war scale. What would your answer be? You’d definitely think it’s pretty unlikely (unless you’re the kind who thinks big-scale wars are not unconventional in our age and era)

So, basically we can conclude that our estimate of probability can be really off on a few occasions and about certain things.

So let’s leave our “intelligent and informed” probability estimations aside for a few minutes. Imagine is the word from here on.

In a few years from now, a certain hacker/script-kiddie/cracker/computer-geek, ends up creating a program that has following characteristics:

• It has the ability to transmit itself over the internet via mail, messaging apps etc.
• It has ability of self-learning to bypass security systems and authentication mechanisms.
• It destroys data.

Let’s name this program the S-Virus.

If you use any device that connects to the internet (like where you’re reading this), it most likely has some sensitive data. Imagine losing that data over seconds and being connected as you are, infecting all your connections with the same. I am sure you’ve certain security system in place, and the applications you’re using promise to be secure enough to save you from exactly such scenarios. But our S-Virus bypasses all that, using AI, let’s say.

What kind of implications that would have?

• Giant internet companies would have to shut down their services to stop the spread.
• Things that are dependent on the internet (which is true for majority, even some government organizations) would suffer a blow.
• People would be at a communications loss, with their friends, family and the whole outside world.
• Jobs of those who are in tech industries, would be in critical danger.
• Banks would stop functioning.
• A lot more…

What kind of countermeasures would be there?

Governments would cut down internet access for everyone.

Internet companies would have to ensure their systems are clean, data is secure, by stopping all network activities for an extended period of tine because all it takes is one S-Virus infected device on the network to sabotage their entire infrastructure.

Their would be a need for newer devices which connect only to a certain network which is different from the current internet. The manufacturing, distribution and maintenance of these devices at large scale would be a tedious task to say the least. Depending on the severity of the S-Virus, it can have further problems. Imagine Mr. X, who is generally a nice guy but not so bright, wants his new device to have his old data, so he just connects via bluetooth to his old phone, hoping some data is still left to be saved(it is not 😒), but the S-virus transmits itself to the new device. Poor Mr. X could not retrieve anything from the old phone (except the S-Virus). Whenever this new device would be connected to the “new” Internet, it is game over, yet again. You might be thinking the thing Mr. X did is monumentally stupid, and thus very unlikely. Let me refer to a quote here:

I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.

— Isaac Newton

There would be designated places where people would go for their “essential” needs like education, banking, government agency work etc, assuming they all are “sanitized” and monitored thoroughly, which would have their own problems and may not always be possible.

Letters and phones will become the norm again, phone companies would have to come up with new solutions to handle that increased traffic.

Banking, Shopping, Ticket Reservations, Food delivery, Cabs etc would be based on physical interactions rather than person to system interactions.

Our lazy generation who is increasingly dependent on the internet for almost all it’s needs would face a lot of trouble adjusting. Old people maybe not so much, but there’d be changes for them too.

Let your imagination run wild!

After some time…

Dave used to work at Ev-Safe, a mid level computer security firm, providing security solutions for corporations ranging from banking to e-commerce, and personal antivirus softwares. He was taking care of his family using the only source of income he had, his job. He had ambitions, yes, given he was an excellent computer security engineer, but he had to settle with a job because of his family’s circumstances, his father had dementia and his mother and younger siblings were dependent on him, so he could not risk losing his job, in pursuit of his own agenda.

Then the S-virus fiasco happened. Ev-Safe was shut down 2 months ago, because the whole purpose of the company was defeated. They tried to sustain themselves but no clients would support them.

Dave, lacking his job decided to tackle this virus, he spends a few weeks, his savings are about to end, but he manages somehow and develops a piece of code able to detect the virus and eliminate it.

Eventually, the internet giants, computer security firms would find Dave, and in a few months everything comes back to normal.

Dave has his own firm now.

Mr. X ‘s data is more secure now.

You know how a happy ending goes…