Yes, this is another tedious IT Nomination, but one that really frustrates the hell out of me.
As you may know, I work in IT (self-employed), and over the last 24 months Iâve been rushed off my feet with new customers asking for help building their home-office IT setup. And even though I spend hours doing precisely this, along with providing them with e-guides & PDF docs on what you should and shouldnât do, time and again I see the same people coming back to me a few days or weeks down the line to say that:-
- my hard drive has failed and Iâve lost everything. What should I do?
- I have a virus, and Iâve lost everything. What should I do?
- I dropped my laptop, and its beyond repair. What should I do?
- I think my login has been hacked, and now I canât access my machine. What should I do?
Well, if youâd read my detailed FAQs in my Help Guide right from the off, you would know exactly what to do. Here’s just a few for starters….
- Always install an antivirus/antimalware application, and keep them updated (free ones are just as good as paid)
- Always use Two-Factor-Authentication (2FA) for important accounts/apps (especially on routers). Or at the very least a complex password/passphrase (with hint)
- Always install the latest Windows x, Apple iOS, Android & Linux updates when they become available (Although with Windows 10, best put them on pause for 7 days given how shite they are at fixing things)
- Never switch off local firewalls, especially when using your machine/tablet in a public Wi-Fi hotspot, or for device tethering.
- Always activate syncing between trusted devices so that if your primary device becomes unavailable your synced data should be available on your secondary one.
- Never enable Remote Desktop Protocol by default
- Never have too many Administrator Accounts on one device
- Always user a password manager with online/offline access (LastPass, NordPass, BitWarden, Keepass, ZohoVault – are all free apps)
- Always activate & encrypt backups, either locally to an external drive/flash drive, or to the Cloud (Google Drive, offers 15Gb for free, which is a good starting point)
All of the recommendations listed above I put into practice when I set their computers up in the first place. All they have to do is maintain each one by simply following the e-guide instructions.
Why people choose not to take on board such important advice is beyond me. They seem to think âOh it will never happen to me, so I donât need to bother with extra login authentication or backups. Far too nerdy, and I donât have time anyway blah blah blahâ
But when it does happen to them theyâre almost on the verge of crying over the phone with their âIâve lost everythingâ bollocks.
Personally, I donât mind because its more cash for me (Just under ÂŁ6k in Jan from domestic customers alone, ÂŁ3k for Feb, and ÂŁ3.5k for March so far). But it really isnât rocket science to set these things up and maintain them, if only people would allocate some time and do it!
Nominated by: Technocunt