Internet Is Nasty? Really? How?

Méoc
Many years ago I connected a server directly to the Internet and watched the incoming traffic. Within minutes, connection attempts targeted every open port on the machine. Most were automated bots scanning the entire address space, looking for weak spots to steal data or take control of the host. That was nasty — and it happened twenty years ago.

Fast-forward to today. I wanted to show my kids that the Internet is more than YouTube and Netflix; it is also full of tireless robots poking anything left unprotected. Normally I would drop an idea like this because of the effort involved, but I also wanted to try a new “code vibing” tool called Windsurf.

Code vibing?
Think of it as ultra-fast, AI-assisted development: you describe what you want, and the tool either codes it for you or constantly boosts your productivity.

Here’s a video showing how I changed a small part of the interface by simply… asking for it.



Building a Live Attack Dashboard in 6 Hours with AI

To create my app, I started with a single prompt:

“Create a website that shows how ‘Internet is nasty’. The backend should listen on the most common Internet-facing ports and, whenever a connection attempt occurs, update a real-time interface styled like a horror movie.”

Windsurf generated the project structure in seconds. After a few iterations I had a working app, now live here.

Total time invested: about six hours. If I had to compare it with the time it would have taken without "code vibing", I guess it would have taken days or weeks — but the truth is, I wouldn’t have even started this project, given the benefit vs. time ratio. Also, I should add that during those six hours, I learned how to use Windsurf and did… something else. I spent time guiding it at some points, but I personally spent much less than six hours on the app itself.

Staying High-Level Without Losing Control

In addition to greatly accelerating your time to deliver, code vibing is great for keeping you focused on the goal instead of disappearing into the bug jungle. The AI handles the tiny details, and you don't lose sight of the overall project goal.

It’s still good to know a bit of dev and infra though.

Code vibing tools are like autonomous cars. You tell them where to go and they will take you. It's quite magical — but even in a world of autonomous cars, you still need to know what a road is, what a tunnel is, and what a “don’t go there, it’s a cliff!” looks like. Code vibing is the same: you need to know enough to understand the tool's limitations and to be able to guide it before it casually suggests, “this track seems like an amazing shortcut — let’s take it!” (spoiler: it’s 4x4-only and you’ll die there). In technical terms, it’s important to know a bit of app architecture, APIs, middlewares, coding, etc.

Also, once the app is created — where do you deploy it? If it’s a simple stateless web app, it’s all automated. But as soon as you want a little more — like a database — the options shrink to “take your code and deploy it yourself.” Thankfully, the AI can help you here too. But again, to understand the road to take, you need a minimum understanding of the planet you’re landing on. In my case, AWS lightsail was the right service.

Beyond the Horror: Why This Matters

The “horror-movie” look is fun, yet the app serves a real purpose: demonstrating how relentlessly the Internet probes anything it finds. Let it run for a few minutes and you will see multiple unsolicited connection attempts. It is a concrete reminder to patch, firewall, and monitor every exposed service.

Want a Peek?

Take a look and see how many attackers try to steal your data or turn an innocent server into a zombie. The numbers might surprise you — and persuade you to double-check your own defences.

Yes, Internet is nasty.
And that’s exactly what I wanted to show my kids: under the surface, the Internet is not a calm sea — it's a battlefield of silent attacks.

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