Computer Brisbane

Computers in Brisbane Are Host to a Silent Information War

When technology consumers first began plugging their devices into the World Wide Web on a widespread scale in the mid-1990's an information explosion occurred.  Every computer in Brisbane became a dictionary, an encyclopaedia – an entire library.  Consumers were able to log in to the internet and browse through shops, placing orders and taking the deliveries at home.

Unfortunately, along with this new found world of information came new threats.  The long cables connecting computers to the world became portals for thieves to pick individuals' pockets, stealing anything they needed from others' computers by the same means those users were accessing that host of data.  Viruses began attacking machines, installing back doors and silent systems in any computer across Brisbane that would gather personal information and send it back to hackers.  Credit cards, addresses, phone numbers, personal identification information and birthdays all became free game, and thieves make millions stealing such information and selling it or using it themselves.

In time, computer designers learned to deal with the fact that the internet could be used as a tool for stealing massive amounts of information from users.  They learned that a computer in Brisbane could be attacked by another across the globe, and they began implementing programs to stop such assaults from happening.  Yet hackers proved surprisingly persistent, and today the two groups – computer programmers and hackers – fight silent wars against one another, slipping little bits of information into the devices we use to protect or attack them.  All the while this silent battle winds its way behind the programs we run and systems we use, and we rarely stop to recognise its presence.