The author reminisces about his childhood experiences with the early internet, describing it as the "Wild West." He shares two personal anecdotes about downloading malicious files that contained viruses and ransomware, resulting in the loss of personal files and data. The author also shares a story about his brother, who was blackmailed after signing up for a game on the Deep Web, which required personal info and forced him to play daily for 2 years to avoid having his info leaked. The author concludes by emphasizing the importance of being cautious online, backing up files, and being wary of too-good-to-be-true deals, sharing three key lessons learned from his experiences.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The author used to play online games, including incremental games and Club Penguin.
2. The author searched for an auto clicker on Google and downloaded a file from a website.
3. The downloaded file contained a virus that caused a loud alarm sound and a looping GIF.
4. The author's computer froze, and they had to restart it.
5. The author later downloaded a screen recorder that contained spyware.
6. The spyware caused multiple pop-ups to appear on the author's computer.
7. The author lost 15 GB of files, including songs, photos, and documents.
8. The author's computer was infected with ransomware, which encrypted their files.
9. The ransomware demanded a $500 payment in exchange for the decryption key.
10. The author's brother was also a victim of a scam on the Deep Web.
11. The brother signed up for a game that required him to provide personal information.
12. The game developer then blackmailed the brother, threatening to leak his personal info if he didn't play the game daily.
13. The brother was trapped in this situation for 2 years before the game disappeared.
14. The author and their brother learned lessons from their experiences, including being careful when downloading files and backing up data.