A Wake-Up Call I Story By Tanmay,15,Panvel

A Wake-Up Call

Raju was a typical school-going student but of a high standard and glamorous attitude, belonging to a family straight out of a fantasy. His dad held a prestigious position with a substantial package at Vande Industries. His sister studied at the same renowned institute where their mother was the Headmistress. They all lived together in the grand ‘Sharma Mansion.’

Raju usually didn’t like going to school, which is why he attended only a few times, carrying an air of arrogance and strong dislike. However, he was deeply addicted to devices and games.

One day, Raju trudged into school, his backpack weighing him down. “Another day, another dull lecture,” he thought. Little did he know that this session would be different. As he settled into his seat, his teacher, Mrs. Kumar, began to speak.

“Today, class, we’re going to talk about something very important—cybersecurity.”

Raju’s eyes glazed over as Mrs. Kumar droned on about firewalls, viruses, and passwords. He had heard it all before. “What’s the big deal?” he thought.

But then, Mrs. Kumar said something that caught his attention. “If you’re not careful, your device can be hacked, and your personal information can be stolen.”

Raju shrugged it off. It won’t happen to me, he thought.

Raju was lethargic, he gathered all his belongings and walked back home.. He spent the rest of the afternoon watching videos, playing games, and scrolling through his phone. It was not indeed his; it was his dad’s proxy phone, which still had a lot of information of the most importance.

He was using it because his own phone was with a repair technician due to some damage it had suffered at the extravagant party thrown by one of his wealthy friends the previous day.

The whole day passed…

He was just about to drift off to sleep when he received an alert message:

“Your device has been infected with a virus. Click here to clean it.”

Raju’s heart skipped a beat, but he dismissed it. “It’s just a prank,” he thought. He fell asleep, but his subconscious mind was working overtime.

The next morning, he woke up and wandered into the garden of his mansion, still holding his dad’s phone. Engrossed in a strange new game, he barely noticed when a notification popped up on the screen. It presented him with two options: Accept or Deny.

 He was so excited about the game that he unintentionally, clicked Accept

The day was proceeding happily for Raju as he did not have to go to school and could play many games until seven o’clock; his father furiously came home, snatched his phone, and scanned it. He found that the phone was hacked and all the information had been lost. His father was furious at Raju but was more tense about the present situation.

What happened was that because of an expired antivirus, some hacker had hacked his father’s and mother’s accounts, and all of the money had been debited. Not only this, but a lot of controversial information about the TSB institute was on that phone, which was not out to the public, and because of this, Raju’s father was thrown out of the office. His mother’s income also could not support the family. Because of the destroyed image of his dad, within some days, his mother also lost her job. Situations changed. Raju and his family lived in a rented house; he and his sister went to a government school, and the family struggled to earn a living all because of his one mistake. His father stepped forward, holding the same phone.

“You should have taken the warning seriously,” he said as the device began to glow with an eerie light..

Raju was heartbroken and could not utter a single word. His dad had raised his hand, and it was just near his face for a tight slap, but suddenly, the device rang, and everything vanished.

He woke up with a startled ; it was a call from an unknown number he denied the call and sat straight. His heart was still racing. He told himself it was just a dream, but the memory lingered. What if it had been real? What if his device had been hacked? Raju now realized his mistake of ignoring the warning. He promised to take more precautions and not to treat cyber security lightly.

From that time onwards, Raju never let loose his device safety. He used strong passwords, and he avoided dubious links with suspicious attachments. He also kept his software updated. It was a lesson that Raju would never forget. This was a wake-up call, for it reminded him of cyber security’s importance. And Raju was grateful for it.

***

Photo Credit – Copyright Free, Royalty Free images from Pexels

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