Hackers strike while you are on holiday

The hackers have been out in force these past few weeks, have you noticed? I had my Skype hacked while I was on holiday and I’ve noticed many friends have had their emails hacked.

Many people I talk to are quite nervous about Internet security and are concerned that using social media will make them more vulnerable. The sad truth is hacking is pretty much part of modern day life now.

But we are more likely to get hacked if we don’t use our accounts for a while. That is why there’s more hacking at the moment, people are away on holiday, not using their accounts and it gets noticed. For me, it’s like any other security when we go away, we should only tell the people who really need to know and must ensure things are locked up well.

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In this case, it’s about making sure you have secure passwords on your accounts, and not the same one for every account of course. People’s nervousness about the on-line world got me thinking about banks. Cat Smith has been sharing the news about Knott End’s only bank closing despite promises to stay open. Banks blame the rise in Internet banking for their branch closures, but I’m not at all sure this is true.

Jane BinnionJane Binnion
Jane Binnion

I think may be it’s the other way round actually, bank closures are forcing us to use Internet banking. I have to use online banking for my business account as there isn’t a branch anywhere near, but I do need to put cheques in the bank. Luckily in Galgate we still have a post office where we can do that.

It is convenient to be able to pay suppliers quickly via the Internet, but most of us want access to a branch with real people, probably not every day, but we do want it.

The good things about the digital world for me this week have been... finally after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, my new book The Heart of Sales is available on Amazon (yeah). Also at the weekend I got to watch some brilliant young musicians at Halton Mill and was delighted to hear so many of them have EPs out.

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Not long ago getting a book or album contract was very difficult and many writers can tell you tales of the piles of rejection letters that chipped away at their confidence. But now we can side step the gate keepers and publish our work ourselves.

We may not make our fortune, but it all helps to get new ideas and talent out there. Now that is progress!

Have a great week and stay safe online.

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