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Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Battleground of the Computer

by Josiah T.

DISCLAIMER - I do not own the rights to, nor am I trying to advocate, endorse, or otherwise promote any of the programs mentioned in this writing. The removal processes mentioned in this story should NOT be tried at home - they are only to be used by a professional. An inexperienced user can severely damage their computer by attempting the removal processes mentioned in this writing.

The following is a piece of writing submitted by Josiah T. on November 20, 2008
"DISCLAIMER - I do not own the rights to, nor am I trying to advocate, endorse, or otherwise promote any of the programs mentioned in this writing. The removal processes mentioned in this story should NOT be tried at home - they are only to be used by a professional. An inexperienced user can severely damage their computer by attempting the removal processes mentioned in this writing.

This is only an introduction to the story, introducing the characters. This should prove to be fun, I'm not sure exactly where it'll go, but I'm going to try and keep the story on the light side..."

Battleground of the Computer - Introduction

The Good Guys

Firewall - The first line of defense. Blocks some 90% of all threats
Anti-Virus (AV) - Second line of defense - attempts to block the other 10% of threats
Anti-Spyware (AS) - Paid subscriptions often try and block spyware, free programs usually just scan for and remove it.
- Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
- Spy-Bot Search and Destroy
- Ad-Aware
- SUPERAntiSpyware
Removal Tools - DOS based tools for removing spyware and cleaning the registry.
User - You. The person using the computer.
Tech - Me. The person fixing the computer.

The Bad Guys
Hackers - Try and hack into computer to steal personal data. Firewall attempts to block hacking attempts.
Virus - Infiltrates computer via web browsing, email, and any other route into the computer. Tends to be very destructive and replicative - it destroys files and replicates itself on the computer, and often emails itself to other users.
Spyware - Infiltrates computer mainly through web browsing and false advertising and false alerts. Tries to steal personal data (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.)
Malware - Can be either spyware or virus. Infiltrates computer by user visiting sites they shouldn't be going to. Once installed, it pops fake infection alerts, and brings more spyware and viruses in.
Trojan - Can fall under either spyware or virus. A Trojan Horse tries to attach itself to files that look legitimate, and then opens security holes for more bad stuff to come in.

The following is a piece of writing submitted by Josiah T. on November 25, 2008
"Ok, I'm not sure if I'll get this story written this month or not...I'm hoping I can get some serious writing done over Thanksgiving weekend..."

Battleground of the Computer Part 1 - Infection

All was silent on the outskirts of the computer. The firewall patrolled the rim of the operating system, making sure that the many hacking attempts that occurred every second did not do any damage. The Anti-Virus troops sat behind the firewall, confident that they would not be needed tonight.

The User sat in front of the screen doing his normal browsing, nothing out of the ordinary. All was quiet, and in the long silence, some of the AV troops began to get restless.

Suddenly a warning flashed on the screen in front of the user: You're computer is infected with dangerous spyware! Click here to download protection!" Without thinking, the User clicked the link, opening the firewall and bypassing the AV, to start the war of the computer's lifetime.


For a few days, nothing seemed wrong. The User kept on at his normal browsing, and everything seemed OK. Beneath the screen, however, in the depths of the operating system, the AV was quickly being overrun.

The spyware was not just spyware, but a combination of spyware, viruses, and a trojan. It worked very quickly to shut down both the firewall and the AV.

The AV, however, was not going to go down without a fight. It began giving more infection warnings then usual, but in the end, it was overrun. The spyware included programing to send the AV into snooze mode, permanently.

With the firewall shut down and the AV snoozed, the door was open for more attacks, and the User didn't even realize something was wrong.

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