There was a time when campers would spend their lengthening autumn nights huddled about the laptop, warming their hands above the processor and letting the eerie blue glow of the monitor light their faces from beneath. It was during hours such as these that people would take turns telling tales about digital gremlins and computer projects gone wrong. Here are just a few excerpts from those half-told tales.

“The Next Day, It Was Gone!”

Who hasn’t heard the story of the phantom server? Hour after hour of labor poured in to perfecting a website until it is a resource for one and all, whether client or site owner. Then one morning you awake, and it’s as if the website had never been there at all. Maybe it was a server crash, or worse still a hosting company that folded in the middle of the night. Either way, all the data on the site is gone and beyond recovery.

Chilling, isn’t it.

The only way to truly avoid such a grizzly fate is to incorporate a system of routine backups into your online plans. Some servers will offer this service automatically, but that only work so long as the server itself remains. For the best security, you want hard backups being recorded in at least two locations. That way if one goes down, you still have all the data necessary to restart your site just as it was.

“The Post that Never Came”

There it was, glorious as a shiny red mailbox: the online contact form. Available to everyone capable of reaching the world wide web, the new cornerstone of customer service. First one day passes, then five, then months go by and nary a peep reaches your in-box. Worse still, you start to hear rumors, rumors that your clients have received confirmation that their comments have been sent, that they are awaiting responses, that they think it is you who is not contacting them.

The nightmare of crossed communications is one that causes the skin of any fair-minded entrepreneur to creep. And while it is possible to recover a great deal of things online, opportunities are not among them.

Even if your developer is faultless (and we certainly do our best). You should always take the time to test your own contact forms.

“Like I Wasn’t In Control”

One day I was a legitimate businessman, the next, I was peddling tarts. Yahoo! would not speak to me, Google treated me as a pariah, even my longtime colleagues would steer clear, afraid I might pass the contagion of a Social (Media) Disease.

No, this is not the aftermath of a mishandled web 2.0 campaign (though you need to be wary of those as well). It’s what comes of your web presence when your site gets hacked and hijacked.

To keep yourself safe you’ll need a secure site (a dedicated IP is best), and a well developed password policy that insures that site entry is easy to remember while remaining unique to each site and individual. Keep your eyes peeled for further suggestions on best password practices.

Horrors of Your Own?

If you’ve faced online horrors of your own, drop us a comment below.