Darley Street: Season Two, Episode Four – Ooops That's Naughty
By Steve Gray
Previous Episodes
Pat called out to Dan, ‘Hey Boss, I think there’s something you need to know about!’ Dan came out from the back, he had been watering a new delivery of plants. ‘What’s up?’ He quizzed, Pat turned the computer screen around so he could see the image, their website had been hacked… There were some rather rude nudes on each page!
Dan jumped on the computer and did his best to try and log on, oops the password wasn’t working, and he had to admit, he hadn’t looked at or altered the site for a long time!
A phone call to the domain company, ‘Have you tried to change the password?’ There were some heated exchanges back and forth. Finally Dan was able to log in, but it had been so long, he couldn’t remember the details about how to change things.
He then jumped on the ‘Facey Page’, ‘Anyone know a good fixer upper person for a website issue?’ Karen from the Accountants, chimed in, My son Kevin is a bit of a whizz, I can get him to text you, you know kids these days, they don’t call, just text…
Dan was getting desperate, ‘Yep, mark it as URGENT please…’
Fifteen minutes later a text came through, Dan said he wanted a fix up, explained the issue and got Kevin started. The seventeen year old said he was at Uni, but in his break would take a look. Not quite what Dan wanted to hear. Ten minutes later a text came through. ‘Hey Dan, all sorted, you now have your site back to how it was, easy fix, change your password.’
A day later Kevin dropped in, eager to be paid for his fix up, but not that eager as to push the issue.
Dan was pleased with the quick result and handed Kevin some cash. Kevin then offered to help Dan optimise their website, a few tweaks and some extra security measures would not go astray. Dan agreed and set aside some time to organise all that.
Dan wondered how a hack like that could happen? Keven pointed to his computer, on the side was a paper label, ‘Password XJ45B’ it was in a position where it could be seen, although it was often covered up by a small box that had pens in it, today for instance it was possible for anyone to see it.
Dan felt like a fool, but sat back in his chair and swore, apologised to Kevin and shook his head.
It turned out that Kevin was quite the whizz, offering a bunch of ideas to improve the workability of the nursery’s website, along with some ideas for boosting with social media presence. Dan felt obliged to take all the ideas on board.
Security boosted, more social info to be shared, a photo here and there to showcase new blooms, plants and plant care tips. Kevin suggested he could drop in from time to time to do this all for them, so they could get on with their work.
Dan knew it would cost a bit but he decided to give Kevin a six month trial.
Kevin agreed, he took a bunch of photos to get started and then sent off the details to a contact he had in the Philippines, they did social media posts all the time and would soon provide Kevin with a bunch of fantastic posts that were sure to please, and please they did.
Dan’s team were amazed, there were more comments on their Facebook page and sales took a rise. The plant care tips were tailored for southern Australian conditions.
Wayne Plum was connected to their page and made positive comments, as did Christie Minns, who was now a regular for flowers, like Wayne. They both wanted to know the backstory. Dan shared some of the story, but didn’t mention the hacking and rude photos.
A podcast popped up and Kevin became the new flavour of the month. For older web users and business people without much technical expertise the technical skill of kids like Kevin was simply amazing. For Kevin it was easy to deal with, having grown up with computers and having access to a wide range of skilled people to assist, like the good folks in the Philippines.
He knew how to find people or software to evaluate a website and provide input into how to make it work better.
Kevin was being praised by people he didn’t know and merely shrugged his shoulders. Then an idea showed up, one of his contacts was pleased that he had a good outcome from the nursery job, had he considered helping the other businesses by setting up a barter system, a no cash trading system.
Some research ensued, simple enough, people could log on, insert a transaction and see the result instantly. A few bigger ones had been set up but this one would be just for the businesses in this area.
Kevin then set up a simple video on how it would work, no cash, just straight bartering, all automatic and very secure.
The system seemed to be a useful idea, but there was some initial reluctance, Kevin set it up anyway and showed a few how it worked. While the Darley Street people pondered the value, Kevin was not selling the concept to other shopping strips, go Kevin.
No two days were the same in Darley Street; people come, and people go. Today’s events were rather revealing.
