You can fight back against cyberattacks
Science News for Students, May 9, 2019
The original concept for this article was to explore how cyberattacks threaten infrastructure, such as the power grid, factories, airplanes, and more. All of these things rely on computer systems, so if someone messes with those systems, the results could be devastating. These types of attacks have already happened in Ukraine.
While I was researching the article, a story broke in the news. A 14-year-old had found a major bug in the iPhone. This seemed like the perfect way to make the concept of stopping cyberattacks relatable to kids and teens. Of course, the family was at the center of a media firestorm at the time. But I was persistent (and probably somewhat annoying!) I finally managed to get ahold of the mom through Twitter and set up a time to talk with her and her son.
I never set out to be a journalist. But that’s what I am a lot of the time, especially while working on an article like this one. I didn’t really have any scientific papers to use as resources. I spoke with cybersecurity experts and regular people to get the story. I’m happy with how it turned out!
Also, stay tuned for a book I wrote for ABDO’s Financial Literacy series, Protecting Financial Data, due out in August 2019. The book contains a lot more information on how ordinary people can prevent cybercrime.