Hackers recently posted a threatening terrorist message on my web site. ‘How can this happen?’ I asked, as all virus protection was up to date? For days, I had no website and no email until my IT provider restored functionality. Near paralysed of professional productivity-not unlike a fly trapped in a spider web-I headed home to domestic chores and left the web wreckage to the technical gurus. After all, I remind audiences to:
1. Focus on what you can do rather than stress about what you have no control over.
Sometimes, it’s easier said than done! About to hang out the washing, the clothes line was covered by an enormous spider web which I instinctively brushed aside. A pang of angst arose. I’d wiped out this tiny creature’s elaborate work for the day with a single swipe of my hand; just as the hackers had done to my work. Unlike me, there was no backup drive for the spider. I later learned that even my backup had been corrupted.
2. Back up your backup!
Let me confess a fear of spiders, even though I know most are harmless and fear is more perceived than real. So too, with internet sabotage although the menacing message claimed to be terrorists from the other side of the world, my rational self knew it could just as easily be teenagers from the other side of the street.But it was some time before I thought rationally and couldn’t even contact the company hosting my site as their phones were linked to their server. Initially, I thought it was just my website which had been hacked and it felt as if my office had been ransacked.
In despair, I did the only sensible thing a ‘motivational’ speaker could do at that time-utter a few expletives and burst into tears. I was about to cancel a swim with a friend as I just had too much on my ‘to do’ list. But, hold on-I couldn’t do it so I might as well clear the head in the ocean and hope it would all be fixed when I returned. She apologised for running late because her husband also had his website hacked; so it wasn’t just my website but the server that hosted many other businesses. As business owners can often feel isolated, I felt somewhat better that it wasn’t just me. As Mum used to say:
3. A problem shared is a problem halved
I returned to the office reminding myself not to stress about things outside our control. I put my trust in the computer gurus to fix the problem and tidied my desk and filing cabinets. There’s something about clearing files that also clears the mind and I became curious about spider webs…The web informs us (hopefuly reliably) that:
-Webs allow spiders to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down. Hmm, sounds a bit like the hackers.
-Spider webs are an efficient method of gathering food. Hmm, surely hackers could use their time more efficiently because there’s no financial data on m site?
-Spiders spin protein silk from their glands and it is common for webs, to be about 20 times the size of the spider building it. Hmm, how big is the World Wide Web really?
-It is common for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning. The silk proteins are thus recycled. Hmm, maybe we waste energy with all those items in the follow-up file that we know we’ll never get round to following up on?
-Spider webs are rich in vitamin K, which can be effective in clotting blood. Webs were used several hundred years ago as gauze pads to stop an injured person’s bleeding. Hmm, useful information if tempted to slash ones’ wrists with computer angst.
-After a time the silky web loses its stickiness and thus becomes inefficient at capturing prey. Hmm, I guess that’s where improved spyware and virus protection come in
-The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has greater elasticity. Its microstructure has potential applications, including artificial tendons and bullet proof vests.
Hmm, guess the World Wide Web will never be bullet proof to hackers.
-Spider webs can be traced back 140 million years-and the World Wide Web to 1989. Hmm, the www isn’t even as old as me yet this generation can’t imagine how we survived without it.
Possibly I could have made better use of my time.I’m naturally curious but admittedly a social media novice, concerned about creating a rod for my own back, as it can become addictive or onerous. Someone tells me that I ‘should’ post daily or at least weekly. But, for the time being, I chose not to. Yes, I’ve written best-selling books on customer service but the onus is on each individual to set expectations and electronic boundaries so I’ll only post occasionally; and use my finite energy to focus on writing the next book. Call me a dinosaur if you wish but…
4. Just like we re-charge our computers and mobile phones, we need to recharge ourselves.
Because unless we’re emergency services workers, it’s seldom required to be accessible 24/7.
5. You can’t look after your customers if you don’t look after yourself
Futurist, Arthur C Clarke, once said: ‘The future isn’t what it used to be’
Look forward to your future with technology-but make enough time to enjoy the present!