Monkey, Shakespeare, Typewriter - Cybersecurity for Everyone
Published in June 2022, this books has been referred to as the ‘Definitive Guide to Cybersecurity for the layman’ by its readers.
An excerpt from the chapter - “What’s all this about data privacy"?”
Imagine this for an instant. You live in an apartment downtown. From your bedroom window, you can see at least 20 other windows and if you lean forward a bit, you can even see the sky. Since you believe that privacy is only for those who do illegal or immoral stuff, you don’t close your blinds. You don’t plan on doing anything illegal or immoral, at least in your bedroom. Meanwhile, a few windows away, a gentleman with a pair of binoculars has taken particular interest in your window. He does not worry about you individually. He just makes a note of what time you enter and leave your bedroom, how long you sleep. Your favourite sleeping position. The amount of time you spend looking at your phone before you go to sleep. The things you do immediately on waking up.
This gentleman takes detailed notes of your behavioural patterns. He does not know your name. However, he knows that you have a pizza and beer in your bed every Sunday. He also knows that you watch TV in your bedroom for at least an hour a day. He also knows that you are out late every Friday. By looking at his notes, he can now predict, with increasing accuracy, what you will do on the next Sunday night. Also, by looking at the type of clothes you wear on Friday, this gentleman can conclude that you go to the pub for a drink. If you dress smarter on a Friday, this gentleman can easily tell that you are not going to your regular pub hangout, you probably have a date. This gentleman now calls up the burger company and says, “Look, this guy who lives here has a pizza every Sunday. I am sure if you offer him a burger for the same price he will consider it. Make it a vegan burger though, as this fellow does not eat meat. Also, he is price sensitive, so, keep the price of the burger under the price of an 8-inch pizza.” He can also call up a fancy restaurant and tell them, “Our guy has just dressed fancy. There is a 90% chance he is going on a date. Quick, send him the discount coupon.”
Once you start to realise that this gentleman with the binoculars is influencing your life in some subtle and some not so subtle ways, you decide to close the curtains. At that time, since this is a hypothetical story, the gentleman pops up and says, “Hey, look at the view you would lose. I am just looking at you through the binoculars. I mean no evil. Look at what you are going to miss out by closing your curtains.” So, you continue keeping the curtains open…
Cybersecurity is a complex web of words. The average internet user is forcibly trained on jargon like “spear-phishing” and forced to use brain busting ‘complex’ passwords without knowing why.
Monkey, Shakespeare, Typewriter: Cybersecurity for Everyone is a cybersecurity book written for the everyday internet user. The book goes beyond the regular cybersecurity jargon and into the psyche of the individual.
It handholds the reader through a journey of identifying their digital ‘Crown Jewels’ and helps them be more secure online. There is a template for identifying your Crown Jewels that you can access here.
Tip: If you find yourself getting zoned out, you can skip the slightly technical Chapter 2: and move on to the rest of the book. You can always come back to it later.
Praise for the book
“An easy to understand book for every person who is not an IT geek, but is curious about the cyber world!
Also, a must read for every IT Professional and student to broaden your knowledge about various facts - most importantly Cyber Security.”
“Very interesting and simplified for any layman to understand ...started from basics of computer, network to internet Cyberverse talking through the simple but important methods of security measures one can take....
Reading was never so interesting for me...Enjoyed reading this book...”
Excellent book. Must read for those who feel “ Why will a hacker target a common person like me? I am safe and I have nothing to worry ”