This post is for @michelle.gent’s story-mentor group. She said:
Tell me about your pain. Let me feel it, sympathise, empathise with your pain. Whether it's a headache or a shattered limb, childbirth or deep inconsolable loss, let me feel it with you. Take me and your readers on that journey and show us your agony.
~ It's that time of year again ~
Source pexels
I didn’t really have anything until the other day. Just kidding, it's tax season; of course I had something. A lot of big "somethings" to be honest. I've got numerous complicated issues this year, so I'm glad to have a professional helping me. And I'll bet he has some professionals helping him!
Because there are a lot of complications with my tax return this year, I'm behind schedule and April 15th is rapidly approaching. I was having difficulty getting some of the documentation and was beginning to get frustrated. When I get to a certain level of frustration, I begin to lose effectiveness.
I was already well into frustration mode when my phone buzzed. I assumed it was a text, so I ignored it while I was finishing searching for the last document I needed for taxes. I finally found it and packed all the papers into an envelope to mail off to my accountant. Then I checked my phone for that text... although it wasn't a text.
It was Norton Mobile Security with a notification. I opened the notification from my lock screen and I was greeted with this!
WHAT THE CRAP!!!! Someone is on my FREAKING NETWORK and trying to hack me??!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!
"I'm so pissed off right now!"
I didn't want to get caught by a real life hacking scam, so I started by making sure I was actually in the Norton app. I exited the notification and opened Norton Mobile Security from my app list. The same notification came up; I was being hacked! "I'd love to hack THEIR phones and see how they like THAT!"
Since I had confirmed I was in the actual Norton app, I clicked on the "more" link. It expanded the notification to show that someone was actively trying to decrypt my SSL connection. I'm not super tech savvy, but I know enough to know that's like opening my mail to read it. It's bad! "Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Oh, crap."
Taxes had been hacking my brain for the previous few hours and I already had a headache, so I was not in the mood to mess around. I'm not joking when I say that I realized wi-fi signals aren't that strong, so the person couldn't be in a very big range from my house. I was considering running outside to see if there was someone in a car with a laptop. I don't know what I was going to do at that point, but I wasn't really thinking clearly. "I could throw my phone at them. Worse case scenario it breaks and they can't hack it anymore."
I decided not to go outside as it wasn't likely they were sitting in a car, but I did check the router. Nothing! Arg! (I don't know why I checked, because it wouldn't show anything, but I wasn't thinking clearly.)
I hopped on my computer and began to google the term. I started getting on message boards to see if anyone else was having the same issues. There had been a similar incident in December, but other than that, I couldn't really find anything. "Oh, my gosh, my phone is getting hacked! Should I turn it off?"
I noticed my computer didn't have a message and that was confusing because if the network was being hacked, wouldn't my computer be getting hacked too? My head was throbbing from stress, lack of water, and intensely focusing on the same problems for too long without a break.
I tried to call Norton, but they were experiencing high wait times because of an "unusually high volume of calls" and the wait time was going to be ridiculous, so I decided to try chat support. These are the chat messages from over 30 minutes of waiting. Aren't the wait times supposed to go down?
~ At least I can get Lifelock from Norton to protect the identity that they're letting get hacked ~
I posted in the Norton community forum and responses started flooding in that people were having the same problem. I was slightly comforted by the fact it wasn't just me, but were we all really being hacked? Still no notification on my computer. "There's got to be something fishy going on, right?"
Finally, I reached a point where I didn't believe Norton. They were telling me that I was being hacked, but I couldn't see any signs that it was actually happening. And my email kept dinging with each new reply that someone else was having the same issue. I decided that I needed a break and that if I was getting hacked, so be it! I decided to get water and do a workout instead.
Finally, after hours a Norton employee on the chat board said this:
A FALSE POSITIVE?? Surely, the crack team at Norton would have tested for something like that. After all, their reputation is dependent on people believing them when they call "Wolf."
I logged off and went to bed. When I started my computer the next day, I was still annoyed with Norton, but I pulled up the message board and found the employee had declared the issue was just a "false positive" bug and had been fixed... just update the app. By that point, a LOT of people had accused Norton of using scare tactics to make a "money-grab" to boost sales of their Virtual Private Network (VPN) product that they were trying to push as a solution to the hack. Their poor mouthpiece puppet had to come back with this.
Before the "hacking incident" I might have even believed him. After my experience, I was skeptical. Then, two days after the "incident" I turned on my computer, I was greeted with this:
~ Yeah, not a sales tactic... ~
Uh huh, yeah. Sure it wasn't a sales tactic. Norton definitely doesn't use fear-mongering and scare-tactics to influence their customers to buy more of their products. (Can you hear the sarcasm? Because it's there!)
Fool me once, shame on you. Tell me I'm getting hacked when I'm not, just so you can push me into buying more of your products, FORGET YOU, buddy!
There aren't many companies that I trust with my business. Norton was one of these companies. It's sad that they dropped from being almost "completely trusted" by me to the point where I immediately believe they're lying... all within three days.
Norton could have done much more to test their updates, warn their customers, and take responsibility for their mistake. Instead, they ruined (in my opinion) their entire reputation. I can't trust that what they say is true.
I don't plan on choosing Norton again. Peace of mind is the reason a person buys a product from a company like them. It's unacceptable for the protection company antagonize customers with the company's own greed and ineptitude.
Rant over. Pain released. Story written.
tl;dr Taxes suck. Norton SUCKS!!!
Disclaimer: All ideas presented here are for informational/entertainment purposes only. Do your own research. Make your own decisions. Eat your vegetables. Be nice to your mother.
That really is scary!
I also have a conspiracy theory that virus-manufacture is sponsored by these companies because if it wasn't for the virus, customers wouldn't have any fear to drive them to buy protection.
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if anti-virus companies did that. It's a great way to boost their bottom line. It's why any time there's a hack or a breach, Norton trumpets it from the rooftops so they can get more people upset and scared. My dad always said all marketing was based on fear or lust. They're either trying to make you afraid so you buy their product to protect yourself, or they're trying to make you feel inadequate so that you buy their product to make yourself feel better. (i.e. lusting after a car and the prestige that driving it will bring you.)
On the Big Bang Theory (tv show) one of the characters works for a pharmaceutical company in the research division and she jokes about creating and curing a disease. It wouldn't shock me if someone found out that some of these new diseases that we're encountering were made so big pharma could sell a "treatment." They definitely wouldn't sell the cure!
I agree a lot of these companies drum up business this way, my belief anyway.
Then if they get your info you are an easy target. I mean really, who can you trust nowadays?
Well I know we talked about vote bots and what not but a scroll through my bl9g you will see i was recently hacked and it WAS a wifi hack. It looks good that you have pre-emptively caught this though. Wifi hacking is a big problem and if it's on one device it'll be on all your devices that use that specific WIFI. not trying to freak you out just explaining what i learned the hard way. I'm sure Norton can combat a lot of it but just be careful regarding other devices on the wifi network.
If worse comes to worse and you think your wifi is compromised kumar solutions can fix it. Btw a hacker doesn't have to be right outside your door to be compromising your wifi all they need is your IP address.
Well, I'm sure you will be okay just make sure any other devices that use your home wifi are on the home wifi and not some weird thing you've never heard of.
Secondly they may be on the home wifi but behaving strangely. Those are the things I'd look out for. Best of luck! =)
Edit to add I see you're mostly talking about norton but some of the other elements of your "story" hit a little too close to home, hence my elaborate reply. =)
I think we're all good now, but I really appreciate the hints. I figured that all the devices would have the same message. We don't have many other devices on our network, so we have good visibility there. I figured that people could hack in remotely, but I don't feel great knowing that all they need is my IP address. Grrr.
Thanks for reading. I know this was a longer post. :)
No problem glad your issue seems to be clearing up. =)
Yeah it's unsettling but hackers these days are getting pretty crafty
I flagged a guy down below in the comments for posting just a link to his post. I checked it out in another browser that wasn't logged in, so I wouldn't get confused. It was an actual Steemit link and post, but it was garbage, and it was totally unrelated. In these times when people are phishing for accounts, I didn't want people potentially getting scammed from someone who is just spamming. I left a fairly detailed message so he would know why I did it, but he hasn't responded. At least it's not phishing. That's what the world has come to. :(
Yeah but it is scam so good thing you flagged
Did this just happen? What an ordeal! I noticed you weren't as involved on here (at least not as much in my corner of it), so I was thinking you were off having some fun somewhere.
Taxes are a pain to begin with, but then to get a notification of a WiFi hack in the middle of it—dude.
As far as a writing exercise goes, wow. I wish it had been just coming from your imagination.
Since you haven't exactly mentioned it, I'm hoping this means that you're certain no data was taken off of your phone and that everything is secure and back to normal.
I'm not a big fan of Norton or other companies, and I agree to an extent with another comment about security hackers working with them. It would be all too convenient for them to try such tactics, although I can't believe there wouldn't be a law against it on the federal level that some major officials would have to be looking the other way in order for Norton or McAfee or whoever else to blatantly use hacks as a sales ploy.
So, what are you going to do? Is there a way to beef up security on your WiFi? It kind of sounds like an over the air deal. I have my own WiFi set up, but I'm somewhat aware of other setups.
Of course, if the same company that's supposed to be keeping your network safe is the one faking or making an actual hack...
I hope that everything is good now and that you can restore piece of mind very soon.
Yeah, that was earlier this week. I've been fighting through a number of things. It seems like things are slowly looking up.
I would have liked for it to come from my imagination as well. I'm having a bit of trouble getting things out of there.
I believe that everything is good. Norton said it was all just a bug. I didn't notice anything happening, all my files seem to be there, and I never had any issues on my computer. I think I'm good to go.
I think it could probably fall under racketeering or other collusion statutes. I'm not a lawyer though, and I got turned down to play one on tv. Just kidding. I was never in the running.
I don't think there's danger right now. Could be, but I doubt there's a heightened danger from last week. I'm not planning on doing anything more. Earlier if I had considered getting VPN software, Norton would have been in the running, but now I doubt I'll look at their other products at all.
I've got a piece of my mind. I'm not sure where the rest of it went, but I can't find it right now, so I'll just let it be. Maybe it will wander back and find me instead. :)
Well, all brain or just a piece, I'm glad to see you made it through. I'd noticed you were gone, at least from my neck of the woods, but didn't necessarily find you making a lot of comments elsewhere either, so anyway. Glad you were able to get through it with your stuff intact at least.
As for the imagination, wasn't the last installment The Horse With No Name, or did I miss something after that. From my recollection, The Man With No Name was shot, had blacked out, and he and the horse were starting to wander about.
So, that means our hero has to get out of the predicament somehow. Any peaceful Indian tribes around he could blunder upon? What about tying the gun that got stolen in with a former girlfriend? Wait. Is that already a plot line. Can't remember now.
Point is, The Man With No Name is in trouble, and he needs a way out of it. That would seem to be a next step to take.
Really just spit ballin' from memory here, hoping to jump start something and hoping more that you already got your own ideas percolating. :)
Hey, surviving is winning! If life can't break you and you don't give up, then you win! The same thing applies to brains. ;)
I was wondering if you were stalking my comments. Ha ha. At least I'm consistent, so I don't have to worry about the comments I leave in different places.
Yes, The Horse with No Name was the last installment that got released. I have two sections that are part way completed, but I need to sit with them a while. Each post takes around 3 hours to write... assuming things are flowing fairly well in the old cranium. I do a write, re-write, edit, revise, and then have been having my wife proof read it, then I re-read, then I publish. I add the pics as I go. It takes a while, but I really like the story. Maybe I'll get inspired tonight.
Yeah, I have a number of nuggets that I've left along the way that I'm planning on trying to pick back up as I go. I'm excited for the potential in it, but I haven't done this before so I'm not sure when I'm supposed to "push through" the blocks and when I'm supposed to wait and let it marinate. I'll open one and see if I can get it to move.
I had been working on another assignment, but it started turning into something too big for the assignment. I'll have to do something smaller. That is almost a whole chapter of a book so far. And it's not even close to done. And there are no stopping points. Not yet at least. Maybe as it gets fleshed out it will make more sense and I'll be able to put a few dividers in there.
In my years of wanting to be an author, I've read all kinds of tips and hints and tricks, and after all of that, what it boils down to is find your own system when it comes to writing.
Generally, you're told to write every day (that's novel writing), but that wouldn't necessarily hold here. Marinating might be the best way, really.
I've literally marinated on over a dozen ideas for 20 years. Then, the novels I ended up writing were ones I'd just barely thought about doing a few months prior. But by the time I got around to getting them out of my brain, it took all of 2.5 months to write both of them. So, in my case, they just started to download.
Of course, then they took six months each to get edited. :) Okay, that wasn't done by an editor who had nothing better to do but work on my book, but it was an eye opening experience for me. I wasn't nearly as consistent as I thought I was, and you really need to be a stickler with continuity. You can't be too fast and free with that, because the reader will pick up on the errors quickly.
In your case, you don't have to worry about deadlines, and you can take your time. I would just suggest that you set a reasonable, doable deadline goal (taking in account everything you have and might have going on), and then work on it as inspiration strikes. Maybe that's not the best idea, because my inspiration tends to come when my mind is trying to shut down and go to sleep.
Not very convenient Mr. Brain, since my laptop is nowhere near my bed. Maybe I should move it in.
Nah. Wife would freak! :)
Ha ha, I'll start with the last part. I'm very disciplined about not having my laptop or phone in the bedroom. I go there to sleep and I don't want to lose sleep because I'm thinking about what's happening on Steemit, or with friends, or whatever. I've read a number of articles that support this type of habit, so I'm sticking with it.
As far as writing the story, yes, I think it would help to be a little more consistent. I have a few things that are changing in real life and once they shake out and I'm able to see what time I'll have available, I'll be able to schedule a little better and have time set aside for writing. Then I won't be free to just wander around Steemit as much, but at least I'll be more productive.
Thanks for the encouragement! Hey, 20 years is a long time. I wonder if they're ready for writing yet? :D
I need to finish the third book so I have a proper trilogy. Then, maybe I could get the other ones out.
With some of them, it will require some extensive research since they will be period pieces, and I don't have the knowledge on my own. Cool thing is, the internet is an awesome and fast research tool. It helped a lot with the two books I've already self-published.
What's not helping is, I'm caught up in a few comic book series story lines now. Then, there's Steemit, and trying to get it going. So, I don't know what's going to shake out. I'd love to get back to the novel writing, though.
I would have just disconnected everything. Then have my son call his buddy who does cybersecurity, to come see what is going on. He takes care of that stuff for me in exchange for a few beers and a home cooked meal.
That sounds like a really good plan. You can't be too careful and if you have a son with friends in IT, that's a great way to go. Good for you. Getting a home-cooked meal in exchange for a little IT support isn't a bad way to go for a lot of people. :)
LOL, that would rattle my cage! I hope the government has to pay you some taxes back. I hate when I get the message you owe Uncle Sam $XX.XX
Yeah, thanks. It's been a journey. Uncle Sam really likes to take my money. Apparently he doesn't know that I need it to pay bills and things like that. Hopefully we'll get something back, but you never know!
Thanks for stopping in! :)
I just stumbled upon @michelle.gent's story-mentor group a few hours ago, and here you are with this cautionary tale! Very serendipitous to say the least ;)
It is a little coincidental that Norton's "tax warning"happened to be there at a very convenient time. Makes a person say, "hmmm" and a major red flag to pop up in your head. I too used to trust Norton...
This was a great take on the guidelines given to you; I did feel your pain and disappointment in trusting a company to totally not trusting them in a matter of days; and the stress and anxiety that goes with such a thing. It's such a shame really!
As always, love the additions to your disclaimers hehe
Yeah, I thought it was more than a coincidence. What did you end up switching to after you stopped trust Norton? You can tell me in Discord if that works better. You don't want hackers knowing what security you use. ;)
I liked this new disclaimer. I felt like it was a timely message as well, what with Easter here and Mother's day around the corner. :D
All the brouhaha, that make their customers restless, just to take they a survey, a marketing ploy of threat to push a particular product, and
this go to show that they can actually hack there customers.
But being an authority definitely customers will succumb to it.
Yeah, I think there were a lot of people who signed up for trial versions of their VPN software, but then cancelled when they realized it was a hoax. I'm disgusted that a supposedly reputable company like Norton would stoop to such levels.
Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by themanwithnoname from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
https://steemit.com/his/@wakeel/any-one-have-information-about-emarat-coin
Posting links to your own unrelated posts without even having a conversation or relationship with the author is rude. Also, in this day and age where so much spamming and scamming takes place through links, this could be a phishing attempt. Because I don't want to expose my followers to that risk, I've flagged your comment.
In the future, remember that you need to give to receive. I spent hours working on this post and you didn't even give me a vote. You didn't even introduce yourself. You simply used my post as a chance to market your post.
Please remove your link, or I can change the vote to a 100% downvote if you'd like.