It's amazing how frustrating doing everyday business over the Internet can be sometimes. This week I was tricked into giving out free Gift Cards to complete strangers who are just in it for a fast buck, and on Friday one of my email accounts was hacked. At TripleClicks I was going nuts trying to figure out how to select an alternate billing address, but got no real solution from their IT department. And to top it all off, my Internet service feels like it's going through menopause: all ups and downs and zero stability.
I stopped the Gift Card issue in its tracks by putting a buffer in place where it will be harder for freeloaders to take advantage of something I want to share with honest, hard-working folks. I corrected the e-mail situation by changing my password, so that nipped the problem in the bud and my email is back to normal. I managed to fix the TripleClicks issue all by myself by poking around my account settings until I discovered what I needed to do. As for the instability of my Internet service, there's really nothing I can do about that, so I'm taking a 'Chill Pill' and hoping it improves.
All around us there are predators who have nothing better to do than to make our lives miserable. You hear about this or that big company getting hacked. You hear horror stories about ordinary people whose emails have fallen into the hands of unscrupulous people. And then it happens to you, and you don't know why they would target you in particular. You're only a small fish in a very large pond full of more appetizing victims. Why pick on you?
Well, that's one of the danger in this modern era of global online communication. There's really no way to totally avoid this danger unless you decide to disconnect completely from the internet and go back to using land lines and sending letters by post –that may or may not arrive this century, depending on which part of the world you live in–, to keep tabs on what's happening in the lives of your friends and loved-ones. Or you could go back to conducting sales like they did in the past: travel all over the country to promote and sell your products door-to-door.
Well I am not about to be bullied into surrender. Things go bad but they eventually work out, so I will continue to conduct my business online; I will continue to follow the ups and downs in the lives of my nearest and dearest on Facebook; I will continue to send emails because it's the fastest and most efficient way to communicate with clients. To hell with all these idiots who plague the internet with their underhanded schemes and stupid pranks.
My advice: keep changing the passwords to every site you use once every six weeks or so. There's a reason why banks ask you to do this, at least that's what they do here in Mexico. It's because online security has become a major problem. I no longer have any doubt that, in the next few years, more and more people out there will try to screw with our accounts or wreak havoc at many of the online sites we use to conduct business or for entertainment.
The good news is that companies big and small are aware of this danger and are continually creating more efficient countermeasures to thwart these security threats. But you also have a role to play: stay alert and avoid clicking on suspicious links you receive in your email; keep an eye out for shady deals that sound too good to be true; and please, please be careful how and to who you give out your personal information!
Well, I feel better now! Thanks for letting me vent! see you next week, unless someone hacks my Google account too… NOT!!!!!!
Have a great and productive week!
PS Speaking of giving out personal information, I assure you I can be trusted, so go to my website, fill in your name and email address, and get one of those free Gift Cards I am offering while they last. Don't worry, your information is safe with Weebly –my website host–, and with TripleClicks.
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