Fatal Bytes
Fatal Bytes
by Thee Sim Ling
by Thee Sim Ling
Embedded Files
JAAT Role Applications are open! 📝
Pythons are easy to tame
The instructors tell me through their own tiny box on my Zoom screen
They should know, they used to be in the Israeli military
Just listen to us for hours and hours and you’ll get the hang of things
The instructors say
A working computer and the art of Googling is all you’ll need
There goes my holidays of rest and relaxation
Before tackling the pythons start with penguins
It takes hours of practice on a ranch of black and white
My only company being fellow trainees in a gaming server
To attract all us kiddos they turned it into a game
Prizes to be won! prizes to be won!
Binge-watching the leaderboard like it’s the next hottest K-drama
Hey this seems easy, I do love taming pythons
My dad peers over my shoulder at my computer
You’ve got the hang of sharks already?
His break from his own work at his computer
I didn’t get there till university
I show off the zoo of animals I have mastered
The animals, however, terrify the spectator
You better be careful with your creatures,
He warns
With great knowledge comes great responsibility
I ignore the fact he plagiarised the line
From a spider man
Next morning, the headlines scream
A sunburst now controls the animals of the digital world
The mighty eagle has fallen from its cliff
My dad points to the solemn print
Be careful, or the python may just bite back
📜 About the poem:
📜 About the poem:
Everyone in my father’s family has a job in information technology, so coding and hacking have always been in my blood. I had taken a cybersecurity course in the holidays, and I found it hilariously absurd that secondary school students were being taught the same things criminal hackers use to hack into multinational corporations. The recent cyber attack named Sunburst, which targeted organizations such as SolarWinds, FireEye and government departments of America, reminded me of how tiny bits and bytes can wreak havoc to the world. I referred to the animal mascots of common web applications in cybersecurity in this poem, such as Python, Wireshark and Linux (its mascot is a penguin).
Everyone in my father’s family has a job in information technology, so coding and hacking have always been in my blood. I had taken a cybersecurity course in the holidays, and I found it hilariously absurd that secondary school students were being taught the same things criminal hackers use to hack into multinational corporations. The recent cyber attack named Sunburst, which targeted organizations such as SolarWinds, FireEye and government departments of America, reminded me of how tiny bits and bytes can wreak havoc to the world. I referred to the animal mascots of common web applications in cybersecurity in this poem, such as Python, Wireshark and Linux (its mascot is a penguin).
👤 About the author:
👤 About the author:
Thee Sim Ling (she/her) is a young Southeast Asian writer. She has placings in numerous writing competitions, including being the only international winner for the 2021 Inklings Book Contest, and her work has been published or is forthcoming in Stone Soup, Shameless Magazine and Skipping Stones. She is also the Chief Content Officer for I-CREATE YOUTH, as well as a staff member for multiple writing organizations. Outside of writing, she’s a cybersecurity enthusiast and a proud INTJ.
Thee Sim Ling (she/her) is a young Southeast Asian writer. She has placings in numerous writing competitions, including being the only international winner for the 2021 Inklings Book Contest, and her work has been published or is forthcoming in Stone Soup, Shameless Magazine and Skipping Stones. She is also the Chief Content Officer for I-CREATE YOUTH, as well as a staff member for multiple writing organizations. Outside of writing, she’s a cybersecurity enthusiast and a proud INTJ.
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