... - 2021年11月7日文学城存档

2 年多

楼主 (文学城)

The following is a post-Halloween microFICTION: What the heck is a hacker? A hacker is a stalker first and foremost. To hack a hacker, I need to stalk it (gender-neutral). This is a cyber game played out in the dark. In the dark, I need to listen. An invisible pin may still betray an audible pin drop even against a noisy background. Indeed, no hacker can remain absolutely silent. The minute I catch the sound of its silence, I will move to defang it. But first, I have to bait it. My bait is the sound of my silence. Mind you, I won't present myself as an easy prey which hardly excites a seasoned hacker. I am after seasoned hackers and seasoned hackers only. Seasoned hackers are lurking around, always. I spotted one recently. To bait it, I posted two business pieces, about 10 days apart. Both of them shared something unappealing to a certain regime. As expected, I got hacked, big time. Perhaps over-excited with such a hard-won bounty at my expense, the hacker had inadvertently left behind two identical sound bites in Sinicized English -- equivalent to its fingerprints on a cyber-crime scene. Well, native English is still quite above its pay grade. That's why, at least for now, the shoe is on the other foot. Yes, the tables have turned. Speaking of which, let me wrap up with a tribute to a particularly low-paid, under-appreciated hacker over there. In all likelihood, this hacked hacker will waste no time devouring Harvard Business Review while dining on instant noodles. Never a quitter, it must be itching to resume commercial phishing. Good luck with that. --- Author: Lingyang Jiang Image: Google