You may know that my computer was hacked recently. And you may have received an email, seemingly from me, asking for money. I received several from the hacker as well and it was a disturbing experience.
After the initial days spent grasping the extent of the hack, it has been an experience of “being wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.”
Things are intensifying in the world and one can get caught up in a wave of fear or anger or just resentment at having to spend your time straightening everything out.
My heart was moved to keep things in perspective.
The verse from the Psalms–*Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” has been my guiding light through this experience.
Having this hack experience opened my eyes to be more alert when it comes to the safety of my world which includes my computer.
Things I learned:
- It takes more than changing your passwords to protect your sites.
- To take more security measures with email. Two-factor identification has been implemented with all my sites. Even though I previously thought it was a nuisance, now I do it gladly. ·
- Fully reading a message so alert not to click on anything I don’t know is a trustworthy source. The hack happened when I felt a little rushed and clicked on what appeared to be a familiar site.
- Put a credit freeze or fraud alert on all your accounts just to be on the safe side.
- Take it seriously and file a police report immediately if this should happen to you. It protects you if someone gets enough information to do damage by opening a credit card in your name that you may be unaware of. I was surprised when I was counseled to do so by one of the companies I have an account with. The Brookhaven policeman who filed the report said it is happening regularly these days particularly when people are in a hurry. His thinking was that the hackers are very capable and smart. If they would just put that intelligence towards constructive activity, the world would shape up in short order!
I learned a lot about security and about being alert to scams during the past couple of weeks.
However, the greater blessing has been learning to follow through (the entire process) while keeping my integrity through it all.
Another blessing was that I heard from friends all over the country and even one from Australia which I hadn’t heard from in a while.
May these thoughts help in your navigation through a security breach if it should happen to you or someone you know.
For Our Greater Health,
Dr. Steve
