I’ll never forget the first computer repair job for which I actually got paid. My customer, a fellow named Bob, had one of the slowest computers I’d ever seen. He was stuck in endless cycles of click, and then, wait, wait, wait.
I asked how long it had been since he’d turned off his computer. “I never turn off my computer,” he replied, with a somewhat annoyed look on his face and tone in his voice. Knowing even then, as I do now, the first maxim of computer troubleshooting (“When in doubt, reboot”), I said, “Let’s see what happens if we reboot your computer.”
I clicked Start, Shut Down and Restart, only to be greeted with an error message that said, “Other people are logged on to this computer. Shutting down Windows might cause them to lose data. Do you want to continue shutting down?” I did not like this message at all. Looking at the Windows Task Manager revealed 28 other people logged on to Bob’s computer. Bob was beginning to look a bit pale.
Returning to the Shut Down process, I mumbled, “Heck, yeah, I want those 28 people to lose data,” and I restarted Bob’s computer.
Soon, I was looking at a Windows logon screen, asking me for Bob’s password. “Bob, what’s your password?” I asked. “Bob,” he replied. At first I thought he was kidding, but the look on his face told me otherwise. “Uh, really? Your password is the same as your first name? Your password is ‘Bob?’” “Yes,” he said, slowly drawing out the word. I knew we were in for an interesting afternoon.
First off, I disconnected Bob’s computer from the Internet. Then, after explaining why he absolutely was not allowed to use “Bob” as his password (or, any other “real” word, for that matter), I changed Bob’s password to something more secure. I had to do this more than once, as he was using the same horrible password for everything, including his email account.
After yanking out about twenty viruses (Bob had no antivirus software installed), installing a firewall (Bob had none) and a gazillion Windows updates (Bob had never updated anything), Bob and Bob’s computer were feeling much happier.
What were those 28 other people doing logged on to Bob’s computer? I was never too sure about that. Those many years ago, I didn’t know computer security like I know it now; I just knew it was a bad idea for that many mystery users to be connected to his computer.
Perhaps his computer was being used to forward spam email or distribute pornography. Maybe the gang of 28 were using Bob’s computer as a front, hiding behind it while attacking more lucrative targets, such as banks or corporate databases. Such activities are commonplace these days, with the bad guys running rampant over people with weak passwords.
Over the next few columns, we’ll look more at password security and how to manage multiple passwords for multiple accounts. Until then, stay safe and happy computing.