Dear Future Aram,
In my line of work, you get to see a lot of tech that is incredible, cutting-edge stuff the rest of the world thinks is just theoretical. Today, though, I had a front-row seat to an unprecedented cyber-terrorist attack - and witnessed something so powerful, I don't even know how it works.
I mean, I have some theories. But as Arthur C. Clarke said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And - speaking as an über-nerd, here - this stuff was pretty magical.
It's more than fascinating that these things exist. It makes me - it's weird to even type it - but it makes me, like, proud. Not that I did anything. But it makes me proud to be a person, alive right now, doing this kind of work. And defense tech, spy tech, is at the bleeding edge of what we're capable of as a species. It's an inspiration.
At the same time, when you see something like a tablet computer effectively shutting down the electrical grid of an entire city, like some sort of EMP pulse over the Internet, and you know that effect is only the tip of the iceberg, well it honestly makes me scared. Like, really freaking terrified. It turns out understanding what's really possible actually makes it worse, because our interconnectedness makes us more vulnerable than regular people even allow themselves to imagine. Because if this exists, and we have it, who knows what the bad guys have. Are they two steps behind us? Or even one step ahead of us? What could they do?
I don't know, but this weekend I'm changing my passwords.