THE X FACTOR

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States - What a week it has been. First, I thought it was an isolated problem. All week dealing with technical issues. It all started with our email service Microsoft ‘Outlook’. Pictures that would come in as attachments did not open properly. We tried every remedy, including the re-install and re-install. We ran the latest spyware software. The latest virus software. Nothing came up. The problem persisted. Then, someone reported problems with our social media platform. One problem after the other. Then, we had a transmission issue that only part of the server response was active. Now we had a four way fight. We could not receive attachments. We could not communicate internally. Our social media platforms compromised. We did not receive or could communicate with our server. Normally, when this happens. The rule of thumb is take a deep breath and watch how it develops. We have had numerous hack attempts on our systems in the past so we knew where to look and what to do. This was different. There was no clear evidence that anything or anyone was attempting to hack. As the day progressed. We found out through the news wire that other companies in the area experienced similar problems. As the day progressed, more and more cases appeared to surface. People on social media kept asking if anyone else was having problems. The problems included. Poor or no internet service. Lack of ability to send and receive emails. The inability to send files through social media. Other reports included ATM issues. Clients of various banks would put their cards in and the services requested would not be granted and their card returned to them. In one case, a woman reported that she attempted to call someone from her phone only to be connected to someone else. Another person reported the inability to save pictures and files to their computer. According to the report, the kept getting an error message. When these type of occurrances happen. We treated as a network problem. We called Microsoft, they claimed there was no report of outages and or problem on their systems. They did mention that the last issue they had to deal with was months ago during an upgrade on their servers. We spent Saturday and Sunday monitoring our systems. We made some upgrades and modifications only to have the same problems persist. On the eleventh hour we decided to create a new environment afar from our operating systems. All new equipment, all new software. After all that work. It took three hours and the problem persisted. At that time we decided to just waited it out. Something in the internet world was not right. Normally our IP is safeguarded. Our outgoing mail and in going have been with us for over 30 years. We suspect that somehow with technology not know to us. Someone or something is attempting to control all in and out data. This is alarming and dangerous. As a precaution. We pulled all accounts information and all personal data pertaining to clients and suppliers. We left the new system as vacant of any crucial information as we could. The more we look into the source. The closer we come to learning this new hacking technique. We will keep you posted. Let us know if you are experiencing similar issues.