Ring! Ring!
Me: IT Department. This is Daniel.
Caller: Hey, thanks for answering. What’s your name, again?
Me: I’m Daniel. How can I help you?
Caller: Uhm yeah. I know it’s late and all, but can I speak with the business owner? I’ve got a real problem and I need a real solution from an experienced engineer. No offense.
Me: I understand. And I AM the business owner. How can I help you?
Caller: OH! WOW! I like that. A business owner who answers the company phones, after hours. That’s great, man.
Me: One of the joys of owning the business. I get to make the rules. As you pointed out, it IS after hours. How can I help you?
Caller: Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m a bit flustered. Hang on a second, would ya? <mumbling, growling, shouting> So … yeah. As I was saying … hang on <I’m trying to get it fixed! Let me talk this guy who is probably going to try to rape us!> Ugh … yeah, sorry about that. So … can you help me?
Me: Help you with what? You have not told me wh …
Caller: Damn. Hang on, would ya? <more muffled shouting and complaining> OK. I’m back, now. Sorry about that. So … can you come over right away and fix this?
Me: Fix what? You have not been able to tell me what you need. And before we go any further, I need to secure my time assisting you with prepayment. Unless, of course, you want to get serious about getting your issue resolved. If need be, close and lock your office door, or step outside.
Caller: But … It’s raining outside!
Me: Yes, it is. Which means your staff probably will not follow you out. Which means you can actually concentrate on telling me WHY you called me, after hours.
Caller: Oh. Yeah. Good idea. Let me get outside. Hang on a second. <more muffled shouting and a door chime> Ok. Damn, it’s a little chilly out here. I should have brough my jacket. Hang on a second. <phone is set down door chime sound>
I set my phone down, put it on speaker and go back to making my dinner. Another door chime and the callers phone is dropped then pickedup.
Caller: Hello? Are you still there? Hello? Why won’t this damned thing work? Hello?
Me: Yes! I’m here. You don’t need to shout. I can hear you just fine.
Caller: Oh, thankgod. I thought maybe you had hung up on me.
Me: No. Not yet. What is your name, sir?
Caller: I’m Barry. DAMMIT! Hang on a se…
Me: BARRY! NO! STOP IT! Unless someone is bleeding, they can wait 2 minutes for you to tell me what you need.
Barry: WOW! Aren’t you rude?!?
Me: Barry, what is your credit card number?
Barry: Why? Gonna charge me just to talk to me?
Me: No, Barry. Not to talk with you. But to WAIT for you? Hell yes. My time has value, too. You have called me, after hours. Obviously with some pain point. But not enough of a pain point to get people to leave you alone long enough to try to get it fixed. Concentrate on one thing at a time, Barry. Now. Do you want to tell me what I can do for you? Or do you want to provide your credit card number, now, so I can listen to you get absolutely nothing done to address the issues you are having?
Barry: Uhm … yeah. OK. Here is my problem. My son is a genius. I mean it. A real genius. Special classes and all of it. Anyway, Monday night I was talking at dinner about how I needed to let everyone work from home. But I did not know how to make it happen. So, he told me about this program he called TVsomething. He promised me he could make it work and everyone could then use their own computers at home and it would let them have access to their work computers. Tuesday he comes in and installs it on the server and all the workstations. I check it out online and it is like $8400 for the 20 or so licenses I need to do this. But I don’t have that kind of money for this! My boy tells me that it’s OK. He got this from a friend of his who has a reseller’s license and he is providing it free, for the duration of the emergency. Today, all my employees are working from home and they start calling in, before lunch, about how their computes and their internet is running really slow. Then how all their files are not working, anymore. Then they are replaced. Right now, I have 20 workstations that are showing they have been .. I don’t know the word … I forgot, because I cant see the screen out here in the damned rain. Its .. hell .. hostageware? Is that it?
Me: Ransomware. From what you have told me, I believe your son installed pirated software on your computers. And then gave your staff the same software to install on THEIR systems.
Barry: Yeah! That’s it. Ransomware. Anyway, they want $2k to get back the data on each computer. That’s more than $40K! I can’t afford that!
Me: Barry, it’s far more than that. You will probably be held accountable for the data on the home computers your son infected.
Barry: WHAT? No. No, way. I’m not responsible for those home machines!
Me: Barry, I’m no labor attorney. But I believe you can and probably will be. In my opinion, you need to get your data back. Get your business back. And while that is being done, you need to speak with your business attorney about the exposure to damages you and your son have created.
Barry: I did not do this! This is NOT my fault!
Me: OK. If you say so. Anyway, that is something to be sorted out, later. You have ransomware on 20+ workstations. Probably on your servers, too. How may servers do you have?
Barry: None. We don’t need any servers, here. They are just a waste. We share everything on unused space on the workstations across the network. My son called it a Pier network or something like that.
Me: A peer to peer network. That’s like giving your 20 nearest neighbors $10 each and asking them to hold onto it for you, until you need it. Think all 20 of them are going to have your $10, today? Or did they spend your $10 to buy toilet paper?
Barry: SHIT!
Me: Exactly. If you don’t mind my asking, how old is your son?
Barry: He’s 14, I think. Really smart. On his computer all the time. Him and his little buddies. They are always talking about how they did something and made a few bucks online. I don’t understand all of that stuff.
Me: What do you understand?
Barry: What do you mean, ‘what do I understand’?
Me: What is your business, Barry? What do you do to make your money?
Barry: OH! We make shock systems. Take the vibration out of equipment. My Dad started making shock absorbers and engine mounts when he was a kid. He just saw it, you know? I went to school for mechanical engineering and now I make them for buildings and such … I could go on for hours about this. But I really need my computers fixed. Can you do anything?
Me: Maybe. I need a few more details. Do you have any backups?
Barry: Yeah. One big one. My boy calls it a tor-something backup. Every machine is backing up to all the other machines. And it’s all locked with different keys. One for each computer.
Me: OK. Maybe all is not lost. Do you have a list of the keys for each computer?
Barry: All the keys in one list? No. That’s not very secure. Each computer keeps it’s own key. Oh .. wait. Now, that key is locked under a different key, right?
Me: Maybe.
Barry: I’m about to lose everything, aren’t I?
Me: Maybe.
Lesson Learned
Sometimes as small business owners, we do what we can with what we have. In Barry’s case, he thought his young teenage son could save him a few bucks by using software. I doubt he understood the ramifications of pirated software and malware or ransomware.
A managed services plan is like an insurance plan for your small business. You think it’s a wasted expenditure until a need presents itself. Then you’re glad you allocated for the investment. In this case, the managed services plans offered by Indy’s IT Department and their sister company CYAMS. would have identified the threat upon installation. The customer also would have had reliable save points and backups. Would SOME of the information been lost? Perhaps. But not all.
What would you do in this situation? How do you think Barry and Daniel solve or resolve this situation? Stay tuned for part 2 to find out.
– Shawna
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