Getting Hacked! (dream)

Image by Midjourney

DREAM

I'm standing outside late at night. I'm guiding my car into a parking lot from outside my car. 

I go inside into a community college. There are laundry machines everywhere. 

I bring my laptop in so I can learn some more about programming. When I open it up, there's a virus on my computer. I ask the tutor for help, but he makes it clear that I got myself into this mess and I'm responsible for getting myself out. 

I spend the rest of the dream intermittently trying to get rid of the virus myself by doing things like wiping and reinstalling the operating system, and seeking out other people who might know how to fix my computer.

I am deeply ashamed that I have a virus. People will either think I downloaded porn or something illegal, or that I'm just really dumb and clicked on something I obviously shouldn't have. And in the meantime, I can't do my schoolwork or my regular work.

INTERPRETATION

There's something scary about getting hacked. It's hard for me to say exactly what. But I think it goes beyond just losing data or having private information come out. I've embraced my fear of it by learning more about how it's done, but I'll never forget how scary the thought of getting hacked has been for me in the past. Now, I think I'd view it more as a (big and complicated) nuisance than something paralyzingly horrific, but I think I'm not the only one who sees it as scary.