Digital Apocalypse: How it will affect humanity?

Covid 19 had left all us devastated in its tracks. We had to endure lockdowns, social distancing, masks, subdued economic activity, and a generally depressing environment. Lives of millions were shattered to smithereens by a microorganism, the world hadn’t seen in many years. The pandemic may have finally lost its frigid grip and we are back to living again in a world free from Covid 19!! Would that be the last apocalyptical event humanity had to ever witnesse or are there more skeletons in the cupboard? Well there definitely are! Covid 19 was just an eye opener.

The Next Apocalypse

The kind of intertwined lives we lead in these times, any small infection has the potential of blowing out of proportion and becoming a pandemic. While the world deals with this new reality, there could be different types of apocalyptical events and one such could be a digital apocalypse, as I prefer to call it. Fortunately, this time the fragile human body will not be in the line of fire, but wait, before you rejoice, it will be even worse, because this time our most prized possessions will bear the brunt.

The Digital Apocalypse

Yeah, you guessed it right, electronic devices, viz., laptops, cellphones, tablets, storage devices, smart assistants, gaming stations will be the victims of this new apocalypse. The idea may seem too futuristic or outlandish, but its a real possibility staring in our faces and read on to see the future of pandemics that humanity must be ready to face.

The First Stage

A computer virus is discovered in a server, in some remote part of the world. This newly discovered virus has the potential to wipe out stored data, take over communications and break into the safest electronic environments. The world hears the news and considers it a localized event and moves on.

The Beginning of the Spread

After a few days, the news of the virus becomes more persistent and starts drawing attention. The virus replicates fast and has broken into the servers of some banks, data centers and defense establishments. Data breach incidents and becoming more and more frequent and are being reported from all over the world. Initial investigations reveal that the virus is replicating at an alarming rate and can transmit itself from one device to another through not just data connections but also via removable storage, and even voice calls.

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The World Gets Affected

Within a month, half of the world’s electronic devices are infected, banks are shutting down, government and defense servers compromised, and the healthcare is crumbling. Flights are being grounded and the world comes to its knees. The blame game begins. Every country is blaming another for the onslaught. Amidst all this chaos, antivirus companies around the world start working on the ways to protect the world’s information technology and its devices from the deadly virus, but estimates suggest that it could be years before any reliable solution is found.

While all this is going on, there is panic everywhere and the governments set up task forces to deal with the situation. Everyone around the world agrees that till a permanent solution is found, there will have to be interim measures to protect the world. These measure are, electronic lockdowns, electronic distancing, electronic masking and good electronic hygiene.

The Electronic Lockdowns

Younger generation electronic devices are at a lesser risk of getting infected while older generation electronics stand the maximum risk. People are advised to keep their older electronics well protected and isolated. No one is allowed to send an email or make a voice call. Removable media is completely banned. Only government and essential services’ devices are allowed to function. People are encouraged to communicate in person. Instead of electronic broadcasts, large social gatherings are encouraged for any mass communication events.

The Aftermath

Work from home is completely banned till the digital apocalypse is brought under control. Instead of calling someone, it is advised to physically visit the person and talk. People who are not following apocalypse protocols are being penalized and in extreme cases, their devices confiscated. Those devices that are infected beyond repair are culled and disposed off in a very secure environment to ensure that the virus does not jump for the dead devices to the functioning ones.

The Recovery

After about an year, the world will have learnt to live with the electronic distancing and things will start looking normal, though there will be wave after wave of infections. Finally the virus will start weakening and the world will start opening up, limping back to normalcy. Many antivirus companies around the world will have found the fix for the new virus, and the testing will take some time before the fix is rolled out for the general public. Even after its roll out, there will be a protocol to be followed. First downloads will be available to software engineers, government offices, and anyone else on the frontline in the battle against the virus.

The Closure of the Digital Apocalypse

After the frontline workers, the owners of the older devices will get to download the antivirus first and so on and the world would seem to slowly but surely be winning the battle against the apocalypse. That will be the time when some writer will be imagining and writing about yet another future apocalypse like I am doing now!!!