Tip for Tuesday – #1
Today’s tip is short and to the point. Scams are everywhere, and are more prevalent on the internet than anywhere else.
Every business owner should check on their blog or static web site every day. Even if you have written articles in advance that are being posted automatically, look at the site every day, because hackers are everywhere. Clear your cookies, refresh your browsers, and look – truly look – at your site to make sure it looks the way you expect it to.
Don’t become complacent with emails. There are several making the rounds now that could, at the very least, disrupt your business. And if you aren’t paying attention, your whole site could come under attack just because you unwittingly clicked on an attachment that the sender claimed was important.
The most recent email I’ve seen tells the recipient that his or her Facebook account password has been compromised, and that the email attachment contains the person’s new, secure password. If you fall for this, you probably will not be happy with the results.
So a word to the wise should be sufficient. Do not click on email attachments claiming to contain secret information to salvage your account. These email attachments contain viruses, worms, and a whole host of other things that need an exterminator to remove the nasty rascals from your computer.
If either your Facebook or Twitter account is hacked, you may never get it back. At least with a web site or blog, you should be able to re-upload the content (if you’ve done the smart thing and backed up your files on a regular basis).
Web hosts are not immune to hacking. They do a pretty decent job most of the time, but Go Daddy.com, one of the biggest resources for domain registration and web site hosting was hacked into a couple of days ago, and the blogs of lots of people were compromised.
The main point here is that you should be careful. Pay attention. Don’t allow yourself to bear the brunt of the mischievous actions of people who have nothing better to do with their brilliant minds.
