Hacked

My personal email account recently got hacked.  The hackers sent emails to people in my address book with links to male enhancement pharmaceuticals available for sale on a Russian website.  

In addition to being embarrassed that the fraudulent emails went out to friends and family, I was in panic mode as my email address was the primary contact for some of my personal financial accounts.  I spent a good part of the evening consulting my brother and a friend (both tech geniuses), safeguarding my computer, making sure that linked accounts were secure, changing passwords, etc.

That I got hacked actually hacked me off!  I am careful not to download suspicious attachments or to follow links in emails.  I keep my anti-virus and firewall software current.  Apparently, however, there are people in the world who have computers working every minute of every day to break into people’s email accounts on major carriers such as Google and Yahoo.  I learned that my password was easy to crack, and that a group from somewhere in the south here in the U.S. likely was the one that got me.  Newman!

The experience reminded me that we are vulnerable in life, even after proactively taking steps to protect ourselves.  This is true with our health, money, and even relationships.  At the end of the day, our control over things is very limited.

In the midst of my panic mode in the hacking mess, I found relief when I paused long enough to ask God for help.  I still had lots of work to do checking online accounts, but God’s peace won the day.  In the midst of life, we are often in tough situations.  From whom can we seek help?  “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made Heaven and earth.”  Psalm 124:8