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My Client Got a Virus From Facebook! How Do You Protect Yours?

Like most people who have a choice I use a Mac. I always have. In fact, since 1990 I have had 6 Macs and 1 PC. My Mac Lombard G3 still works but, in 2008 my 2 year old Dell Inspiron was infected with a virus via the internet. The virus would create massive popup ads telling me where I could go to buy the software to eliminate the virus. It made me angry. Very angry. So angry, in fact, that I have not, nor will I ever, own another PC.

Mac ownership has allowed me peace of mind with regard to viruses. I mock those friends of mine who complain that their PC has been disabled due to some nasty infestation and I smugly sit back and snicker at their pain. I know that’s not nice but you’ll see how Karma has come to bite me in the ass anyway.

Becoming over-confident in anything is just about always a bad thing. I have bragged about my golf drives only to shank 10 in a row after. I have bored groups by regaling them with skiing exploits then been unable to ski out the day due to sore muscles. I really should learn to keep my mouth shut.

Computer viruses are no different. Being a Mac user has caused me to feel over-confident and like many things, out of sight, out of mind has been my mandate regarding them.

Until now.

Last week I had a client call me to tell me that her computer had been infected by a virus and that, according to her “computer guy” the virus came from Facebook. Facebook! My trusted social media partner! I was devastated. My client trusted me to guide her business’ social media campaign and one of my suggestions lead to the loss of a ton of data. Ack!

To that end I have some suggestions to avoid this happening to anyone in the future but first, a crash course on how they get ya.

Most of the infestations from programs like Facebook are worms. Worms use computer network and security holes to replicate themselves. They search online until they find an unsecured network then jump in there to create havoc. Once in, the worm can open the door for all kinds of nasty visitors to your computer.

From here on out I will be recommending the following to my clients to avoid getting attacked. I’ll be writing it right into my proposals so that they have a clear understanding that doing business online can open their systems up to viruses if they’re not careful.

1. In a perfect world the client would use a Mac to run just their social media campaign. All blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In etc would be on one machine and all of their company records would be on another system that is not networked in any way to that Mac.

2. If #1 is not possible the client should, at the very least, be running Facebook in the https secure setting rather than http.

3. Running an operating system like UNIX pretty well eliminates the virus issue.

4. PC’s have a myriad of software options for security issues. Norton Utilities have been around for ages and seem to have a good track record of keeping things tidy.

Being aware of possible threats to your client’s and making them understand that security should play a part in their overall online strategy is a great way to provide value to the companies you do business with.

It’ll also save you from having egg on your face if something goes wrong 🙂

May 24, 2011by jax
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Here are some recent projects. Feel free to poke around my site and drop me a line if you think you'd like to work with me.


Hotel Iguanazul - Costa Rica
Hotel Iguanazul - Costa Rica
This client needed a site that integrated with online travel agents and merged calendars for guest bookings. While the design is simple and elegant, the backend is very robust. I added an additional solution to give hotel staff on the ground the ability to take bookings over the phone or in person without sacrificing the calendar sync.
North Vancouver Realty Blgo
North Vancouver Realty Blgo
This site was created to compliment North and West Vancouver Realtor, Elizabeth Dyer's, growing real estate business. Liz felt that providing people with real experiences from the North Shore would help them get a true feel for what it's like to live in this amazing place. The site is growing daily with new posts and new tech like vlog posts!
Layne's Way Environmental Interior Design
Layne's Way Environmental Interior Design
I created this site for my daughter Layne who is just about to graduate high school. We worked on it together as a tool to help her realize her dream of becoming an Interior Designer. The site is used for post-secondary admissions and scholarship opportunities. It also showcases many of Layne's extra curricular activities.
Women In Leadership ~ National Women's Leadership Organization
Women In Leadership ~ National Women's Leadership Organization
Jacquie McCarnan is the National Director of Social Media and Online Outreach for the Women In Leadership Foundation. She is also "keeper of the brand". With chapters in 4 Canadian cities, the WIL online presence is an extremely intricate part of the Foundation's overall community outreach. We conceived and built individual sites for each chapter, trained each chapter rep and provide continued support through the national head office site. By giving the chapters some autonomy to construct their own content we have seen a considerable increase in online engagement; not only from the website(s) but from all social media outlets as well. We also initiated, planned and constructed processes to make the social media engagement a turn-key solution for each chapter since all chapter members are volunteers. In less than a year WIL has become the most robust online presence of all Canadian women-centric non-profits. (big round of applause :)


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“I started Social Media Canada in 2008 to help others realize the power of Social Media to affect change. Since then so much has changed. Social Media is now used to inform, to condemn, to inspire, to do just about anything. There's a lot to know and I'm here to help you learn!”

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