I think I'm losing my touch.
Earlier this morning, I received a telephone call that sounded like it originated in India. It was a young lady who was concerned that I had downloaded some malicious data and that my computer had been compromised. As usual, I recorded the time 9:29.
She sounded worried about this, but I'm sure I sounded even more alarmed. We agreed that the best course of action was to work together to put things right. Expert 1 transferred the call to a "technical specialist" almost immediately.
Expert 2 walked me through the process of starting Windows Event Viewer, and after a brief explanation of what Windows Event Viewer does, excused himself and escalated the call to someone more highly skilled and senior.
Now I'm speaking with Expert 3. Note: As I work up the Expert Ladder, each rung brings me someone who can speak English better than the previous person. By now, I can comprehend nearly all that's being said.
Expert 3 had me visit a WebSite to enable him to access my computer remotely. I was told this was necessary to expedite the diagnosis and repair of my system. I complied, and navigated my browser to the site.
Expert 3 had me click on a button to install software on my system, which I did. My system downloaded some data and asked me for an Administrator password. I communicated with Expert 3 all my system was doing.
Expert 3 asked me to type in the Administrator password. I told him I didn't know what it was. He asked me if I owned the computer. I do. Then he asked me if I were the owner, why did I not know the Administrator password. I explained that my son, the head of our local police force computer fraud division, had not given me the password when he set up my computer.
The line went dead.
33 minutes had passed. Not bad, but far from my 75 minute record. Maybe next time!
Last time
Cheers, PW.
P.S. I have a plan for the next call. . .
I can run Windows as a virtual machine. I'll bet the India Experts won't catch this. I'll let them have access, and while they're working on my Virtual Machine Windows, I can use my "real" system to monitor their activities and really mess with what they're doing.
Would this be cheating?
My goal: 90 minutes! |
