Keith Goodrum

About 2 weeks ago I had a very disturbing experience. My computer got a keylogger installed on it, and caused some serious problems.

A keylogger is software used to log keystrokes, and then transmits the logs to a specified location. The original purpose of this software is to keep track of employees activities, or to keep children safe from predators.

Unfortunately, it also used by the dark side to gain access to private information on a computer. What these criminals are trying to do is get login information to emails, banks and other financial accounts.

Luck was on my side…

In my case, luck played a huge factor in limiting the damage. I happened to be logged into the first account these scumbags tried to take over.

I won’t tell you how, but they messed up one of the steps to change the password. I got an email alert, and quickly changed my password.

Later that day the scumbags logged back into that account with the new passwords. These Einstein’s made the same mistake as before, and once again I was alerted. That tipped me off that my computer had a keylogger.

I switched computers, and started changing passwords. I also got on the phone with the company these scumbags were trying to get into, and had the account locked down.

The next few days were hectic as I tried to find the keylogger software on my computer.

Keylogger software is designed to run in a stealth mode. This makes it hard to detect, and it took 2 anti-virus/spyware programs to find the little bugger. Once I deleted the keylogger, it was reloaded almost immediately. That tipped me off that a trojan reloader might also be on the computer.

It took a 3rd anti-virus/spyware program to find the reloader. I was able to delete the reloader, the keylogger, and finally the computer was clean.

The aftermath

Everything seems to be restored back to normal. (Knock on wood) I only lost one email account, and I have kept the one account frozen for the time being (just in case).

As I look back over the events I realize what had happened. I had gotten complacent, and a little sloppy. My biggest mistake was not keeping my anti-virus/spyware software updated. Unfortunately, that was enough to start the ball rolling.

I’ve spent the last two weeks shoring up my computer security, and will show you what I’ve done. This security quest also extended to plugging the holes on my blog.

Over the next 2 days I’ll show you what I’ve done, and how you can also shore up your security.

Stay tuned, because some of this stuff you already know… but some of this will be a real eye opener.

This is pretty cool. I started this blog on January 15th this year. It so far has been a lot of fun, and also exciting. I thought I’d take this time to show the stats for the 1st two weeks of the blog.

When I sat down to start his blog I wrote some goals for the month of January.

Here they are:
Blog Posts - 13
Unique visitors - 500
Links - 50
Page views - 1250

I based these on… well, actually I just pulled them out of the air. The blog post came from my decision to blog at least once a day Monday - Friday. And since I started mid month I only needed to post 13 times. The unique visitors I totally made up, as well as the links. The page views came from reading someone who said they wanted to average 2.5 page views per unique visitor. So, I 500 X 2.5 = 1250

And here are the actual results:
Blog Posts - 15
Unique visitors - 694
Links - 108
Page views - 2336

I was really happy with the results. Actually shocked would be better response. Seeing these numbers really motivates me to keep on going.

The big lesson I’ve learned is… you can’t do it alone. Over the past two weeks many people have sent trackbacks, encouraged their readers to visit and left comments. It’s cool to see so many reach out and lend their support.

I really appreciate their help, and would like to publicly thank them. Here are a list of folks that sent trackbacks here. I encourage you to go and check out their blogs…

Ryan Healy http://www.ryanhealy.com
Sam Carrara http://www.samcarrara.com/marketing
James Brausch http://www.jamesbrausch.org
Jack Keifer http://www.jackkeifer.com
Ricky Breslin http://www.rickybreslin.com
Aaron Brandon http://www.aaronbrandon.com
Frank Haywood http://www.frankhaywood.com

Keith

I met Stu Heinecke a couple years ago at the Kennedy/Glazer Superconference. Stu was a great guy, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with him. He built a list at the conference by offering to mailing anyone who signed up a personalized cartoon. It was a great way to get people to sign up on his list. I did, and about a week later I this in the mail. I put it away, and intended to get a frame to hang it up on the wall.

I was cleaning out my desk today and found it. I made a note to buy a frame and hang it on the wall. I will keep it because it has my name on it. It’s personalized… I’ll never throw it away. Hey it’s got my name on it!

The lesson is Stu made an irresistible offer to get me to sign up on his list.

Here’s the link to Stu Heinecke’s site: http://cartoonlink.com/. You can sign up on his email list and he will send you a personalized cartoon.

Can you resist? For me resistance was futile…

Keith

P.S. Sorry about the lame Star Trek pun… I couldn’t resist.

A letter that took 8 months to write.

See what Ryan Healy wrote about…
http://www.ryanhealy.com/eight-months-to-write-a-letter/

OK, I’ve been kicking this around for months… setting up a blog. I’ve read all the advantages for blogging, and agreed. But, I just didn’t take action.

Over the past month I’ve been reading James Brausch’s blog, and he talks about being a 2%er… Someone who takes action. And I labeled myself a 2%er because I’ve taken action towards building my online business. Heck, I’ve even made some money online.

Last week James moved his blog, and I was reading some of the new posts. I came across a post titled How To Feel Successful. I read it and went about my business. Came back and read it again, then came back the next day. And finally, I had to look in the mirror and admit that I’ve been fooling myself. You see I’m really a 98%er who does a mean impression of a 2%er.

I was doing a lot of those things on his list. Sure felt like I was busy doing something. All the while telling myself I was a 2%er. It was pretty tough to call myself a 98%er, but that’s what I was.

That’s why I’ve set up this blog. This blog is where I draw a line in the sand. This is where I focus on one course of action. No more jumping on the latest thing rolling down the pipe. No more jumping around, appearing busy and getting nothing done.

On James Brausch’s blog he has laid out a proven method to follow. And this blog will chronicle me on my way to my freedom day.

Come back often and watch the fun!