I
think most of us will agree that social media is a great addition to our lives.
Thousands of people moan about television programs in unison, discuss a common
love, or try to make their mundane life sound a lot more exciting. For
companies, it's a brilliant tool, as it allows them to connect with their
customers individually, and making themselves seem a lot more human than they
otherwise did.
However,
for companies, it is also something which allows their customers to rant at
them directly, about a personal gripe they have. I've done this many-a-time.
I've moaned to BT about their customer service, and how long they made me wait
to be connected up to their service. I've got employees of a local The Range
store in trouble, for closing early without reason. Over Christmas, I told
UberSocial that I had grown weary of their in-app advertising, and was
therefore uninstalling them. Yesterday, I told my bank that their website was
spam-ridden.
What
was I to think? I had spent the morning perusing social media without issue.
Then, as soon as I went onto their website, I was swamped by spam advertisement,
which meant whatever I clicked on, I was taken to unwanted websites. I
refreshed, and the website had been blocked. So, I took to social media, and
told them my thoughts.
Went on Lloyds Bank website, and got swamped by spam websites. I don't really feel safe using their online banking now.
@AskLloydsBank?
— Stuart Collyer (@MrStuy) February 12, 2015
While
I waited for a reply, I did some investigation. Google started coming up with
unusual results. I then tried Halifax and Nationwide websites, and they too
seemed to be infected. Then I went onto this blog. This too was 'infected'. So,
the same hackers who had targeted the big banking websites, were also
infiltrating my little blog, in the corner of the internet. That seemed slightly
implausible, and the likelihood was that the issue was actually me end. Then
Lloyds Bank Tweeted me back, trying to resolve my issue. I had to grovel.
.@AskLloydsBank I do apologise; This seems to be a problem my end. Every banking website I go on, I get spam pop-ups. Sorry for confusion.
— Stuart Collyer (@MrStuy) February 12, 2015
Never
before have I apologised to a company, and it never actually occurred to me
that I ever would. It's a strange result of this immediate and social world we
live in. Thanks to social media, we can call a company up on its mistakes. But
we can be wrong too, and thus, incidents like this happen. Thankfully, they
were good about the charade, and I went quiet.
@MrStuy No problem! I hope you're able to get this resolved. ^TC
— Lloyds Bank (@AskLloydsBank) February 12, 2015
It
turned out that malware had sneaked its way onto my computer, and had proceeded
to spread itself about. It's called Positive Finds, and when I downloaded
something a few days earlier, it was obviously sellotaped onto it. However, it
wasn't just as simple as uninstalling the program, and it was corrupting the
system restore. A quick Google, on an uninfected device, told me that it was
stubborn, and I needed to install something to remove it. So, I took to my
laptop again, typed in the link, and pressed download.
The
clever malware had over-ridden my choice, and proceeded to download something
else. Thankfully, I noticed in time. So, after some considerable effort trying
find a work-around, I finally did it. Internet Explorer was safe. Google Chrome
though, was still infected, and the malware was hidden somewhere amongst the
program files. An uninstall and reinstall later, and now I'm finally free.
After
a little bit of research, it's an interesting piece of malware. Its purpose
isn't to steal your money, or to destroy your personal files. It is purely to
make itself money. Every time one of the advertisements is clicked, it is paid
money by the recipient of the extra visitor. For example, BET123 are paying
them money, to get their website more views. But, of course, they are also paid
money to send people to a link, which automatically downloads a virus. I was
attacked by four Trojans.
Social
media is a beautiful baby of the Internet. The Internet has resulted in a lot
of good since its' own conception. However, the Internet is getting a more
dangerous place to reside, as we are all aware. Only a few weeks ago, I was on
a council website, and when I downloaded a seemingly safe file, I again had a
Trojan hurtling towards me. It's worrying, and incredibly scary. Both my
parents and girlfriend have been victims of ransom viruses, which try to
blackmail you into giving money. This only going to get worse.
So,
what are my final thoughts? Be careful what you download, and think everything
through before you start to mouth-off at worldwide, corporate company.
