Cy's Bear Snacks and the Cyber Attack
Dalen Keys
Cy’s Bear Snacks
and the
Cyber Attack
By Dalen Keys
Copyright 2014 Dalen Keys
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – The Bear Snack Crisis
Chapter 2 – Cyrus Q. Beddingfield
Chapter 3 – Arrival
Chapter 4 – The Attack
Chapter 5 – The Plan
Chapter 6 – Part Two of The Plan
Chapter 7 – The Firewall
Chapter 8 – Traffic Jam
Chapter 9 – The Call
Chapter 10 – Delivery
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Chapter 1 – The Bear Snack Crisis
The King shook the almost empty bag, looked inside, turned the bag upside-down, and watched the last of the Bear Snacks fall into the large golden bowl sitting on the floor. A huge brown bear lying on his soft mat in the warm sun on the other side of the room opened one eye and yawned. After a leisurely stretch, the brown bear lumbered across the room and eagerly chomped and smacked as he ate his yummy Bear Snacks. The King slipped around his throne and crossed the room where he opened a hidden closet door. He gasped and his face turned white when he looked inside.
“Guard! Guard!”
A man dressed in black boots, white stockings, red striped pants, a dark blue jacket and a floppy black hat with a large white feather sticking out of it, stepped into the room. “Yes, sire.”
“This is terrible, tragic, horrible!”
“What is, sire?”
“We’re out of Bear Snacks. Didn’t I ask for more Bear Snacks to be ordered?”
“Yes, sire, but they haven’t arrived yet.”
“Well, get them here immediately!” the King commanded glancing at the bear. “We are completely out and we don’t want a hungry bear . . . do we?”
The guard frowned as he glanced at the bear. “Good point, sire. We’ll place a special order right now . . . an urgent order!”
The King paced back and forth across his throne room. “Just get them here before my Fluffy Bear gets hungry! A hungry bear is not a pleasant bear.”
Chapter 2 – Cyrus Q. Beddingfield
Cyrus Q. Beddingfield sang along with the song booming from the radio in his little green truck as he drove along Information Highway. Fast cars and sleek cheetahs rushed past his little green truck, which groaned and strained under the heavy load of Bear Snacks, but Cyrus was happy to just follow the line of turtles and snails in the slow lane.
“We’re almost there little buddy,” Cyrus said to his truck as they reached the top of a little hill from where he could see in the distance the tall gray security wall entirely surrounding Pea City. “The King will be thrilled when we arrive with this special delivery of Bear Snacks. I’ll be a hero!”
The truck suddenly jerked and backfired with a loud, “BANG!”
Cyrus smiled and patted the dashboard of his truck. “Oh, sorry! I mean, we’ll be heroes.”
They soon took the exit off Information Highway as the little green truck puffed and chugged the last two miles to Pea City.
Chapter 3 – Arrival
Cyrus tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in his little green truck as he waited at the gate blocking the only entrance into Pea City. He twisted in his seat as he looked first to the right and then to the left . . . he saw no one. Then he saw an itty-bitty red button on a white post next to his truck with an itty-bitty sign over it saying,
Press here for help.
“Hum,” thought Cyrus. “That doesn’t seem very friendly.”
He pressed the little button and immediately Vira Norton, Pea City’s meanest, toughest security officer, stepped around the corner and glared at Cyrus. “What are you doing here at Pea City?”
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am. I’m Cyrus Q. Beddingfield and I’m delivering Bear Snacks . . . Cy’s Bear Snacks. I’m the biggest supplier of Bear Snacks anywhere. You’ve probably heard my slogan . . . Only Cy’s Snacks Make Bears Happy.”
Vira frowned and shook her head while glancing over her shoulder at the pack of guards in bright blue overalls that began climbing under, over and even inside the little green truck. “Sorry, sir, I haven’t. But, I do know we need Bear Snacks in Pea City. We’re out of them – totally gone. It’s a crisis, a disaster . . . it’s almost worse than having peanut butter and no jelly!”
Cyrus glanced back at the guards climbing on his truck. “What are they doing?”
“We’re just doing our standard security scan. We’ll be done momentarily.”
##~~##
From the BOOK OF SUPER SECRETS: Just like a city, our computers have a gate for information to enter. That gate is an Internet connection. We often have software keeping bad information out of our computer and making sure that bad people do not steal information from our computer - just like a guard at a city gate.
YOU NEED TO KNOW: Software is a set of instructions that tell our computers how and when to do tasks.
Chapter 4 – The Attack
Cassie P. Ersky’s blonde curls bounced as she walked up to Officer Norton. “Auntie Vira, we finished our security scan and everything was fine except we found this one can of lunch meat.”
Vira patted her niece on the head. “Well, Mr. Beddingfield, everything looks in order except we’ll have to keep this. No SPAM® is allowed in Pea City.”
“That was going to be my lunch, but . . . okay,” Cyrus said with a shrug.
“My boss will be thrilled that the Bear Snacks have arrived. You can go ahead, I’ll just give my boss a call to let him know you are coming . . . enjoy your day, sir.”
Cyrus waved out of the window as the little green truck rattled, rumbled and puffed as he drove into Pea City.
Vira went back into her office and picked up her phone. “Hello boss, sir, this is Officer Norton at the city gate.”
But her boss, Mack A. Fee, heard, “Sir,” . . . hissssss, crackle . . . “the city”. . . pop, buzz, pop. Mr. Fee tapped his phone against his desk and wished Vira had a new phone. “This is Mack A. Fee speaking. I couldn’t understand you. Your phone is not working today, Vira. What did you say?”
Hiss, crackle . . . “entered” . . . pop, hissss . . . “the city. It’s Cy” . . . pop, buzz, pop . . . “Bear” . . . crackle, crackle . . . “acks.”
Mr. Fee whispered to himself. “Something has entered the city. I think she said it was . . . Cy . . . Bear . . . acks.” Mr. Fee froze . . . his eyes opened wide as saucers as he yelled into the phone, “Did you say a Cyber Attack is in the city?”
“That’s right, Mr.” . . . hissss, pop, crackle . . . “Cy” . . . pop, buzz, pop . . . “Bear” . . . crackle, pop . . . “acks is in” . . . hisssss . . . “City.”
Sweat popped up on Mr. Fee’s forehead as his mind raced. Not a Cyber Attack! What should he do? Who should he tell? Then suddenly he knew exactly what he needed to do.
##~~##
From the BOOK OF SUPER SECRETS: SPAM® is a family of products owned by Hormel Foods. It was first introduced as canned luncheon meats in 1937.
YOU NEED TO KNOW: Electronic or email spam is not the same as SPAM®! Electronic or em
ail spam is unwanted messages that might have attachments or links that allow bad information to enter our computers.
Chapter 5 – The Plan
Mr. Fee dropped the phone, jumped to his feet, ran out of his office, up 47 stairs, across two bridges and jumped over three sleeping dogs to reach the Chamber of Knowledge, where the great and powerful King sat petting a huge bear curled up at his feet while he read from Pea City’s Book of Super Secrets.
“Mister King, sir! I’m sorry to bother you . . .”
“Yes, yes, what is it, Mr. Fee? . . . and by the way, has anyone been able to get Bear Snacks yet? My cutie, wootie, Fluffy Bear is getting pretty hungry . . . and we don’t want a hungry bear, do we?”
Fluffy Bear looked at Mr. Fee and licked his lips.
Mr. Fee took one step back and felt a drop of sweat run down his forehead. “S, s . . . sorry, but no Bear Snacks have been delivered yet, sire, but I have other news . . . frightful, terrible, shocking news.
“Worse than no Bear Snacks?” The King said.
“Far worse, sire. I just heard from the city gate that a Cyber Attack has entered Pea City.”
The King’s lips trembled as he rubbed a hand down his long beard. Mr. Fee thought he saw a tear form in the corner of the King’s eye. “We have to use . . . The Plan.”
“The Plan?” Mr. Fee said.
The King crossed his arms and nodded at Mr. Fee. “Yes, The Plan. Do it!”
Mr. Fee carefully opened his secret pocket inside his coat that was sealed with two zippers and one button and took out a golden key. He unlocked a silver lock on an old wooden box that sat in the middle of the King’s desk. The lid of the box squeaked as it opened exposing a giant red button that had writing on it that said,
DO NOT
press here unless
you absolutely need
The Plan.
The King paused and then nodded, “Go ahead, Mr. Fee. Press it!”
##~~##
From the BOOK OF SUPER SECRETS: When someone is trying to steal information from a computer, it is called a cyber attack. Sometimes electronic spam can be used to cause a cyber attack. We should never open email attachments from people we do not know and we should never, ever, visit a web site that we do not trust.
YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cyber is a prefix that means computer or computer network.
Chapter 6 – Part Two of The Plan
“We’ve never had to press the button before, Sire.” Mr. Fee’s voice trembled and his legs shook as he reached out and very, very carefully pressed the button.
At first nothing happened. Mr. Fee looked at the King and shrugged, but then there was quiet hum and a whir. Then there was a louder hum and whir. A panel slid opened on the desk and a large, pink piggy bank slowly rose on a platform until it was even with the surface of the desk. The King stepped up to the desk and pulled the stopper out of the piggy bank with a loud, “thump.” He placed Pea City’s Book of Super Secrets in the large, pink piggy bank and pushed the stopper back into place. Then with a whir and a hum, the piggy bank slowly lowered once again into the desk until it was completely gone.
“Part one of The Plan is done,” The King said. “You’d better go now, Mr. Fee, because now it’s time for the most serious part of The Plan. It’s time to begin Part Two.”
Mr. Fee raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Good luck, sire.” He then turned and ran out of the room.
The King sat down at his desk and reached out . . . his finger was shaking as he paused above the button. He wiped away a drop of sweat that was running down his nose, swallowed and then pressed the giant red button.
##~~##
From the BOOK OF SUPER SECRETS: We often have information on our computers that we want to keep secret; just like the information in Pea City’s Book of Super Secrets. It can be information we do not want to share with other people; such as, bank account information, family information or Grandma’s cookie recipe.
Chapter 7 – The Firewall
The door to the Chamber of Knowledge suddenly slammed shut and a wall of fire streamed down from a slot in the ceiling through a slot in the floor . . . completely blocking the door to the Chamber of Knowledge.
Mr. Fee very, very, VERY carefully stepped closer to the fire and shouted. “Are you okay in there, Mr. King, sire?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Fee. But, no cyber attack is getting through that firewall to get our secrets!”
##~~##
YOU NEED TO KNOW: A firewall is special equipment and software that can be added to a computer to provide additional security. A firewall provides even more control of the information coming into a computer to keep it very, very safe.
Chapter 8 – Traffic Jam
Meanwhile, for poor Cyrus, things were going badly. As soon as Mr. Fee pressed the giant red button, every traffic light in Pea City turned to red . . . in every direction! This caused the largest, noisiest traffic jam in the history of Pea City. Cyrus would squeeze through one jumbled group of cars, trucks and lamas only to encounter another jumble even larger.
“Arrrrgh,” Cyrus grumbled. “I’ll never get these Bear Snacks to the pet store today. I’ll just come back another day.”
Hiss, rumble and puff went the little green truck as Cyrus Q. Beddingfield turned around and inched his way back to the Pea City entrance gate.
Vira held up her hand to stop Cyrus when he finally reached the city gate. “What are you doing here?”
“Traffic is jammed in there. I can’t make it to the pet store today. I’ll just come back another day.”
“Wait here, I’ll check with my boss, because I know we really need Bear Snacks. Our shortage of Bear Snacks is horrible, terrible . . . it’s almost worse than having socks and no shoes!”
Vira stepped into her office and picked up her phone.
Chapter 9 – The Call
Mr. Fee picked up the phone on his desk after having just jumped over three sleeping dogs, crossing two bridges, walking down 47 steps and sitting down in his chair.
“Sir, the Bear Snack man is leaving in his truck. The traffic is too bad. He can’t get to the pet store. Is that okay?”
“Vira, I’m glad to hear the phone is working today. I can hear you clear as a bell.”
“That’s nice, sir.”
“He can’t leave? We need those Bear Snacks!” Mr. Fee thought of Fluffy Bear licking his hungry lips. “I’ll make sure those Bear Snacks get through . . . I’ll send the police. I’ll send soldiers. Wait . . . I’ll send the whole ARMY! What does his truck look like?”
Vira leaned out of her office. “It’s a little green truck that says Cy’s Bear Snacks on the side.”
Mr. Fee scratched his head. Cy’s Bear Snacks . . . that sounds kind of familiar. Why does that sound familiar? Cy’s Bear Snacks . . . that kind of sounds like . . . cy-ber attack. OH, NO! Mr. Fee’s mouth fell open and he smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Excuse me, Vira,” he said, “was there ever a . . . Cyber Attack in the city?”
“Of course not, sir. Where did you ever hear that? We only found one can of SPAM®.”
Mr. Fee jumped to his feet. “DON’T LET HIM LEAVE!”
Chapter 10 - Delivery
In less than 17 minutes, Cyrus Q. Beddingfield was smiling and waving at crowds of cheering people that lined the streets as he drove his little green truck in a grand parade of police cars, fire trucks, and even a few lamas as he was escorted to the pet store . . . he even got to take his SPAM®.
Later that day, Mr. Fee smiled because Fluffy Bear was eating Cy’s Bear Snacks - instead of him.
The King smiled because he knew The Plan would protect the Book of Super Secrets if Cy’s Bear Snacks . . . I mean, if a Cyber Attack ever entered Pea City.
And most importantly, Vira Norton smiled because she got a new phone!
###~~~###
Thank you for reading my little book. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave a review at your favorite retailer.
&n
bsp; Thanks!
Dalen Keys
About the Dalen Keys
Dalen is the author of four children’s picture books and two tween chapter books. He has a Ph.D. in chemistry and works for DuPont. He is currently a business development manager but he was previously the trade secret risk manager for one of the businesses in DuPont. He used his experiences in protecting super-secret information in this book. Dalen is married to Mitzie. They have three children and three grandchildren and live in Landenberg, PA.
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