They are so cute!

Computer viruses have a good side. They enable us to put things into perspective. In just a few years computers, and in particular the Internet, have taken control over our lives. Everything now goes via Internet: bank accounts, defense, supermarket shopping, not to mention mail and money transfers. Thanks to the Internet, doctors are now able to perform operations from a distance, and in some remote villages, the Internet has replaced the local teacher. The next step is Internet-assisted procreation!

The arrival of a particularly vicious virus last summer had a devastating effect on UN computers. Many found themselves unable to work and you could see a number of colleagues anxiously roaming the corridors, desperately looking for a pen and a piece of paper. Looking at their faces, I was not fully convinced that they still knew how to use them. It is hopeless to think otherwise – these viruses are going to increase.

We are definitely heading towards a major crisis. Why a crisis? Simply because those who create these viruses are very intelligent and have a much greater imagination than we do. Who are they? Apparently young kids, our kids, who have found this very sophisticated way of saying sh** to the adult world. Moreover, these kids fell into the magic computer potion when they were born. So while adults are still fumbling with two fingers on their keyboards, kids think, play and even dream with their computers.

There is therefore no reason why these little darlings will stop playing around. They have already visited the computer networks of the CIA, the Pentagon and those of many other so- called secret institutions, so I don’t see why they couldn’t fiddle around with the files of the Bank of England, Wall Street or of Fort Knox, just to transfer a few hundred billions dollars to those who really need them. Our whole financial system would be in disarray and thereby all of our modern economy.

My only consolation is that Julie my daughter (6 years old) is teaching her brother David (4 years old) how to use the Internet. I am therefore expecting any day now to see my bank account grow by a few zeroes. They are so cute these little ones.

Editor-in-Chief, Jean Michel Jakobowicz