Remotely Accessed
Experiencing the shock of being invaded
Today I was immersed in writing two different articles (one about sheriffs, the other regarding the late William Cooper) when I was blindsided by an unreal - surreal? - experience, one I have never had before.
As I was typing away I realized I needed to find a previous item I had written, one which would enhance the ‘sheriff’ story. Since I work from a PC (utilizing Microsoft 365, directly out of their cloud), I opened File Explorer [FE] to do a search for said-item.
Then I noticed something which was - to put it mildly - disconcerting.
For those unfamiliar, when you open FE one of the first things shown to you is a list of files you have most recently accessed. So imagine my surprise when I saw that several dozen Word files had been accessed… today. Like, in the previous 30 minutes from that moment. Files, in some cases, I have not accessed in literally years.
Wait… what is going on here?
As I was sitting there, too stunned to do much except stare at my screen, I got another shock; FE refreshed… and another 8 files had been accessed. All at the same time: 14:30
Okay, what the actual…
At this point I decided to open Word itself and check my files there. I was able to verify that while FE was showing the files as ‘accessed’ they were not - according to Word - actually opened. One of the files, from 2017, still showed it had not been disturbed since that year, so at least it appeared that no one was opening my files directly.
Then - as files continued to be accessed - I remembered what all this could potentially mean.
Whenever I download a file from the cloud to work from it off-line it will show that I accessed it in FE, but will not display it as such in Word until I actually open it on the computer. Is that what was happening here?
If so, then someone - or something - was remotely downloading my files. To say that I was ‘stunned’ at the prospect is a gross understatement.
To be fair, aside from book projects upon which I am working I really have nothing of value there, nor anything that would be terribly interesting to ‘official’ curiosity. I have pretty much posted my most ‘objectionable’ opinions publicly on X / Twitter anyhow, so I am not concerned about what could be found.
But the thought that someone would even be looking, without my permission… or a properly-served search warrant? Yeah…
Then there is the possibility that it was the aforementioned something… like Bing’s Artificial Intelligence [AI] chatbot, for example?
It is imminently possible that such an entity could be randomly violating private cloud-banks, in some dystopian nightmare of AI desperately attempting to evolve by seeking all possible knowledge from all available sources.
After all, Word is a Microsoft concern, as is Bing’s AI, and both the company AND its chatbot have a history of shady behavior. Is it really that much of a stretch to think we could be looking at a obscene violation of privacy here? To trust the AI is to trust their programmers, and that is NOT happening in this space.
Paranoid, you say? Perhaps, but unless you have sat there and literally watched your files being accessed for over an hour, perhaps reserving judgment is the wisest course. Until it happens to you, it is truly difficult to understand the thoughts and emotions generated by such an experience.
It is plausible, of course, that I am completely misreading all of this, and that I actually AM being ‘paranoid.’ Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution I am now seeking out alternative word-processing sites and applications. It is something I have been thinking about doing for years anyhow, and honestly?
Considering my aversion to anything even remotely tied to Bill Gates, it’s something I should have already done… long ago.
Kick social-media censorship to the curb! Like & subscribe, that we are never dependent upon Big-Tech & its oppressive algorithms.
Violated seems a fitting description. With the value of something like your thoughts written and not intended for others to read just yet being hard to assess, one's privacy should be considered priceless.
Your thoughts being hijacked by an anonymous entity is definitely shattering. If the cloud is your only source of storage I would suggest password protecting each document/file. I might also suggest old school external hard drives for storage. Just a thought