Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad

As a high school student I am usually given the task of reading books in class as a required grade and to give small examples of my reading of the day. Since I like technology and have somewhat of an understanding about it, for this review I chose to read the book titled Dear Valued Customer, YOU ARE A LOSER. I chose this book because I felt like reading a book that was somewhat light and upbeat. It was also an easy read and kept me entertained in every small story. Just like me I think people that are into computers and other forms of modern technology would like to read this book and read up on other people's mishaps. This book is broken into different sections for each kind of technical error or mishap witch is great. But since there is no order plot to the book you can freely read any story that you would like. One thing that I learned and that most people should get from this book, is that just because technology is here to make our lives better not everything is going to work on its own and most of the time you have to give instruction properly to the device and read and follow all rules and directions and take care of your computers and other devices.

This fun little book offers an antidote to those misguided people who, I'm told, think information security is dreadfully boring. Its 315 small-format pages contain a collection of entertaining stories about "computer errors" and other IT-related glitches, drawn mostly from the general and IT press. Each story has been verified to some extent by the author although few sources are fully referenced. Most stories are less than 300 words long, just long enough to get the gist. There are numerous examples of information security breaches in the book, especially if one accepts that most data-entry errors are either the result of untrained, incompetent or careless computer users, or inadequate data entry validation. A typical example is the one about a Salomon Smith Barney trader who lent on the `instant sell' button on his keyboard one day and inadvertently placed on sale 14,500 French government bond contracts worth a staggering $1.3bn at a low price. Salomon managed to cancel the sell order but not until 10,000 contracts had been struck, leaving the company nursing a huge loss. I'd have been willing to bet, before the event, that Salomon's risk assessments and contingency plans did not even consider this kind of event. Do yours? Creative information security awareness managers, trainers and presenters use news stories like these to liven-up their training sessions, case studies, seminars, newsletters and intranet websites. Even people who hate IT enjoy the opportunity to laugh at the unfortunate victims of computer spoofs, stunts, accidents and failures. The trick is to use this kind of material to engage the audience and, while you have their attention, explain the underlying information security risk and control issues. At less than ten bucks, it's a genuine bargain.

I picked up this book after hearing about it on the radio, and I'm glad I did. Being a heavy computer user, I have heard about some of the stories detailed in this book, but most of them just made my jaw drop as to how modern technology can screw up either by itself or by a human hitting the wrong button. So this book is highly recommended, but don't give it to any of your luddite friends. They'll use it to prove you right.