Your e-book reader may be an access point for cybercriminals, hackers who want to enter your electronic devices to either steal valuable personal information or plant malicious software such as adware or sending spam mail on their behalf. You are probably aware of this for your personal computer, smart phone, or tablet, but why would anyone want to access your e-book reader? Who cares what books you have, and if they want to steal an e-book, there are better sources where millions of them are stored. It seems hardly worth the effort.

 

According to NordVPN, a supplier of VPNs (virtual private networks), you need to think again. No, they probably don't care about your book collection. What they are looking for is other data that also may be stored on your e-reader. Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer of NordVPN, explains, “An e-book reader is more like a computer than a traditional paper book, and like any other electronic device connected to the IoT [internet of things] network, they are also vulnerable to cyberattacks. Criminals are least interested in the e-book collection because readers, like Kindle, Nook, or Kobo, actually store much more valuable data.” What sort of data? Say, you are buying your books from Amazon. Your e-book reader may have details of your account stored on it, such as account credentials and billing information. This is the type of data, NordVPN says, that cyber thieves can sell on the Dark Web. You can be sure that Dark Web customers are up to no good.

 

They also warn that if your e-reader is connected to a home or local network, they could use it as an entry point to access your other electronic devices too.

 

How do they hack your e-reader? According to NordVPN, the most common way is to send you infected books. This happens when you download a book containing a virus. They recommend sticking to sites you know are legitimate, and most likely charge for their books. Free books, and any sort of free software, are the ones most likely to contain viruses. Legitimate sites aren't going to knowingly send you a virus, but there is always a risk someone hacked their software. Pirate sites are particularly dangerous. Someone has to pay for your “free” software. Self-published books can also carry risk. The self-published book you order might not be a book at all.

 

Other precautions they recommend are being sure your e-book reader's software is up to date and use a service that monitors the Dark Web for you. NordVPN offers such a service and would undoubtedly prefer you use theirs. Fair enough. But, I have an even easier solution and it's guaranteed to be hack-proof. It doesn't use the latest technology of 2024. It uses the latest technology of 1455. They're called “books,” just “books,” no”e-” in front of “books,” just old-fashion printed, paper books. They can't be hacked because they are not connected to the internet. You don't download software onto them. Like the Amish don't worry whether the power goes out or cars get recalled because they are death-traps, print book readers read them in complete confidence of their safety. Why can't Silicon Valley come up with something this good?