One thing that we’ve tried to do more of is offer remote support to our customers. If you aren’t familiar with what remote support is, it is allowing someone to remotely access your computer without you having to physically move it. If you have an internet connection, most of your computer’s issues can be fixed remotely. Just imagine a technician sitting at their computer but what they see on their screen is identical to what you see on your screen. When they move the mouse and do the work, you can see exactly what is going on. It is pretty amazing technology. But the question is: Is it safe?
The short answer is yes and no. Let’s start with the ‘no’ first.
Allowing someone into your computer gives them access to everything in your computer. Do you trust the person on the other end? Are they from a reputable company? Did they just randomly cold call you and tell you there is a problem with your computer? All of these questions should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to let someone access your computer remotely. Would you just unhook your computer and drop it off at a stranger’s house down the road to have them work on it? I doubt it. The same mentality should be used when deciding who to let access your computer remotely. If a stranger randomly calls you and wants to access your computer, you can bet it isn’t a safe remote support call. It may sound strange to you but this is happening a lot!
Yes
If you are willing to let a company such as Heida Computers have your computer physically in our shop, then it is just as safe to let us remote into it and do the computer work that way. It also has the advantage of allowing you to just leave it at home…no disconnecting wires and hauling it into us. We also offer appointments for having the remote work done. So it is completely safe if you know and trust the person or company that you are allowing into your computer!
Are all types of software used for remote support equally safe?
The answer to that is NO. The reason why we like Teamviewer is because it gives you the control over when or who you let in. It has a random password that is created each time the computer starts. So even if your technician had written down the password from a previous remote support session, it would not ever work again. This prevents unauthorized access to your computer.
The biggest negative
There seem to be so many benefits to going the remote support route on your next computer service but the biggest negative would be that we can’t fix anything hardware-related or internet-related. Hardware would be any physical issues that may be occurring. And if you are having internet connection issues, it is likely that we can’t even remote into your computer to look at it.
Conclusion
