What Lurks on the Internet

When someone says the word "Internet" a thousand images and uses for the incredible power granted to us by modern computers and miles of cable come to mind. To students and instructors, it's a phenomenal intellectual resource, to consumers, it's an unparalleled buying tool, and to the creative, it's an excellent place to express yourself and share your feelings and opinions with people from all over the world. But beyond the enclosed discussion boards of online classrooms, beyond the bustling marketplaces of Ebay and Amazon, and hidden in a dark corner past millions of personal webpages, virtual picture galleries, and depressing or grammatically lacking Blogs, is a dark, twisted underworld like no other. It is a place full of all the horror and glory that made cyberpunk such a powerful literary movement several decades ago, yet it is real, and this time, it's gone far beyond anything the fathers of modern and hard science fiction could ever have expected.

Perhaps the truly frightening reality of it all is that it's not all so well hidden; The American Nazi party, who outright embrace the notions held by Adolf Hitler in WWII and his American contemporaries, who claim there is a ZOG, (Zionist Organized Government,) and who cry out for the "struggle to restore white power," owns one of the first sites that comes up on most search engines when you type in the word "Nazi." Now, everyone has a right to free speech, of course, but do we really want our average 6th grader, or say for example, our very own children, to run across something so hateful and, for lack of a better word, disturbing, when they get online and go searching for material and sources for their essay on the horrors of world war two?

But perhaps more disturbing than that would be that they might stumble into one of the plethora of unbalanced and insane websites that fill the dark crevices of the net, none of which are advised for the gullible or the weak of heart, lest they might end up convincing you that Elvis was the second coming of Christ, that the internet is a series of tubes, that the words of a Thomas Dolby song predict the end of the world, that perfect androids and surgically modified aliens walk among us, living normal lives, or that Walt Disney's frozen corpse is indeed running for President of the United States in 2008. Of course, we cannot completely rule such things out -stranger things have been known to happen- but what we can do is exercise a certain amount of cynicism and common sense. Do you honestly believe that Texas was, at one time, the garden of Eden, or that Custer will rise from the grave to lead an army of undead Native Americans in a conquest of France? Some people do, and they make webpages to spread the word, because to them, it's important information that must not be suppressed under any circumstances.

And if your children reading the literature of the American Nazi Party or the frightened rantings of men and women claiming that the end is near, that aliens control our government, or that the Illuminati are satan-worshipping billionaires manipulating politics on a global level weren't scary enough, consider the gigabytes upon gigabytes of free, bootleg, and/or amateur pornography easily accessible to anyone who even claims they're eighteen. Most of the age checkpoints for online pornography are so lax and basic that it could be likened to airport customs prior to September eleventh. "Are you carrying any fruits, vegetables, or plants?" "No, of course not, that'd be illegal..." It's all just a few clicks away, and most of it, from soft-core to beastiality and hentai (cartoon sex) is as accessible to children as it is to any adult, though legally speaking, it is a crime for minors to view it.

Spyware and spam have emerged into the fear spotlight in recent years, so to overlook them when speaking of the dark and fearful corners of the internet would be all but unjust. It comes in the form of software that downloads itself onto your computer from a webpage you (or someone else using your computer) visit during the normal course of your day, and those annoying emails and instant messages soliciting everything from cheap medications to home loans and everything in between. They aren't always related, but they can be. Spyware is literally everywhere, though it's most common form is that of simple trackers that relay the sites you visit during your day. Been shopping online? Some spyware keeps track of your purchases to "optimize your deals," which is just a fancy term for them to bombard you with ads for what they think you might actually want to buy. Been surfing for porn? There's spyware for that too, allowing companies to keep track of your sexual preference, among other things. Been doing something illegal or otherwise immoral? There's even spyware for that, keeping track of all the little insundry things you do on your computer in what you thought was the privacy of your own home. But of course there are always ways to remove it, and spyware scanners, just like virus checkers, are big business.* But spyware isn't just a way to leak information you might be embarrassed about or to provide you with more ads, there are some rather nasty varieties of spyware out there, just waiting to attack your computer. Keyloggers are an excellent example of this. A program that installs itself onto your computer without your knowledge, then proceeds to record every keystroke you make, sending it VIA the internet to a (usually) untraceable culprit, keyloggers have existed since the days of DOS, but they have since gotten considerably more sinister. Modern keyloggers actually have the capability to take screenshots, and record the webpages you travel to VIA bookmark or link, making online banking even more risky than it probably should be. Just imagine- It's morning, you log in to your bank, check your account balance, maybe make an online purchase or pay your mobile phone bill; if you've got a modern keylogger on your system, you've provided the culprit with all the information he or she needs to leech money out of your account (usually in small denominations, just $5-10 at a hit) in a way that you just might not notice, unless you're very meticulous about keeping track of every bit of cash that moves in or out of your account. If that weren't bad enough, many of the people out there who are practically slavering for a chance to make a buck off the innocent stranger have skillfully set up "phishing" sites and emails that use official-looking formats in an attempt to snare you into "logging in" and in the process inadvertently handing over the keys to your account.

In all, the Internet is a wondrous place, full of adventure, madmen, and treasures to satisfy desires both subtle and gross. But be advised- Surf safely; without caution, you or someone you know just might end up falling victim to it's darker side. Beware!