A client of mine told me about this Dilbert strip he saw. It provides perspective how a computer user receiving help could be feel about their data privacy.

What they don’t consider is all the crap I have to look at on computers owned by men between the ages of 30-60!

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Remote Support Options

One of the first tools I used for remote support was PC Anywhere, VNC and Remote Desktop.  Before the introduction of remote support, helpdesk and support staff had to walk people through fairly complex actions like restoring pst files in Outlook, reinstalling Windows and booting into safe mode to remove spyware so you can only imagine how much fun that was.

Helping people with remote support became faster and easier (note: not the same as fast and easy).  I’m still glad I got started with supporting computers through the phone because I developed my ability to visualize and communicate using only words.  This is huge because computer support is really about trust.  It’ a leap of faith for computer users to click on things just because someone on the other line says you should.

Internally, most companies I worked for used IP addressees on the local network to get users and support staff connected.  VPN’s extended this support to people in the field.  After I struck out on my own, I needed a tool that could easily connect me to people located anywhere in the world.  It would leap over firewalls in a single bound.  It would transparently connect me where no one had connected before.  Front offices and back rooms filled with servers…I would be there in moments.

That tool has been Logmein.  They have several products I use, including Hamachi for a software VPN but my mainstay has been Logmein Rescue which allows for a smart, fast and flexible remote support solution and I’ve been using their solution since 2006. I love using Logmein. It’s fast, effective, easy to use, easy for the people I help, supports Mac OSX, supports mobile devices, is affordable and has a ton of powerful features including reboot into Safe Mode.

Data Protection

A common theme I’ve seen in tech support is that people underestimate what they need to protect their computer files and don’t think twice about what happens when they hand over their personal information to companies.  Did you know that your dentist, accountant or daycare center can lose your name, address, number of children, birth dates, places of employment and not have to worry about legal prosecution from the State of Minnesota?

It’s understandable people may feel suspicious of the person helping them.  Sometimes they’re projecting their own trust issues or don’t want their actual problem fixed…as strange as that sounds.   Imagine someone brings their dying dog to the vet. It not only has a massive heartworm infection (spyware and viruses) but it hasn’t been fed the right food and is pathetically skinny. If the dog dies after seeing the vet, common sense would not blame the vet but the highly emotional and frantic pet owner may. Such is the wrath the IT person must bare.

This story plays out all across the nation everyday
Computer person: I found your problem. Your wireless network is wide open so anyone can access your files so this is causing your computer to get infected.
Computer user: I just want the viruses to stop
Computer person: I should secure the network, uninstall Limewire and scan your computer offline
Computer user: Why do you need to do all that? I told you what the problem is
Computer person: Yes, and I’m telling you what will need to be done
Computer user: Well, I don’t think that needs to be done. Just clean off the viruses
Computer user (1 month later): That computer person wasn’t very good. My computer still has a bunch of viruses

Visa has a great page which describes the type of computer network security measures they expect you to follow if you process credit cards through them. All 12 points are standard meat and potatoes security recommendations for computer networks and I show this list to my clients as a starting or check in point. This list is based on the PCI Data Security Standards (PCIDSS)

The PCI DSS, a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security, was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. Inc. International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis.

Illegal Downloads

I’ve also seen people shoot themselves in the foot by installing P2P filesharing apps on their business computers.

Fishing for Pron’s in the Sea or “Naughty Surfing”

As a girl techie, I have heard the same story so many times from guys on laptops:

“Oh, my! My son must have got onto the computer and been surfing these sites”.

I just tell them I’m there to fix the computer, not evaluate how they use it.  These days, if you want to use your computer to surf the internet for porn private stuff, it’s a much better idea to download a Live CD of Ubuntu, reboot your computer and go to town.  This saves you the hassle and stress of deleting your temporary files, cookies, history, etc.  Of course, the Geeksquad will miss your pron files but we’re talking about keeping things professional, not sloppy.