There I was, quietly minding my own business when I found myself in the maelstrom of the great Blue Screen of Death of 2024.
The botched Windows update that had seen flights cancelled, GP surgeries struggling to cope and even TV station go off air had finally caught up with me – and it was unbearable.
You see, I woke up on Saturday morning to an e-mail from those lovely Lotto folk telling me I had won a prize in the EuroMillions and to head over to the app to claim it.
Visions of multi-millions filled my head as I plotted grand plans of doing great deeds while simultaneously going on a round-the-world cruise.
But the app wouldn’t let me in and the redirect to the Lottery website just told me it was unavailable.
So there I was, with my Schrodinger’s millions until the app finally burst into life and I was able to claim my riches.
I was fortunate that my brush with the great tech outage (I presume that’s why the Lotto site went down) was nothing compared to the global chaos caused for millions of people as the IT network went dark.
Are we too dependent on tech after IT blackout?
This biggest cyber blackout to date raises an all-too-important question. Are we all now too dependent on hi-tech?
Not just as individuals – although I know from bitter experience how lost I am when Alexa goes on the fritz. I mean, how else do you set timers for cooking and know what the weather is like?
But our whole society now has tech at its heart, from operating airlines to generating the power we need to keep the nation running, be that driving heavy industries or heating our homes.
Friday demonstrated that all of that could be lost in the blink of an eye – or a wrong bit of code for an operating system update by a company no one had ever heard of before but now appears to be one of the main pillars of maintaining our way of life.
And let’s not even begin to countenance the idea of a malicious cyber attack on our infrastructure by an enemy power. One that doesn’t just take down a wee corner of the IT network, but the whole kit and caboodle.
Don’t forget it was Lenin himself who said every society is three meals from chaos.
A wee bit of malware, the lights go out and we end up fighting rats for scraps of bacon in the basement to the great delight of those who would wish the West harm.
It’s a scary prospect and one that isn’t so far-fetched that it can be dismissed out of hand. After all, it doesn’t take an arsenal of heavy ordnance to inflict a crippling blow on society, just someone who knows his or her way around programming.
We can only hope that the powers-that-be are acutely aware of the threats we face and are taking every step to protect us.
Because if they aren’t, the consequences could be far more serious than waiting three hours to find out you’ve won the grand total of £3.10 in the European Lottery.
Scott Begbie is a journalist and editor, as well as PR and comms manager for Aberdeen Inspired
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