No Data + No Backup = No Business

On July 28, 2010, in Backup Strategies, Business Security, Disaster Recovery, by admin

No matter what the cause, catastrophic data loss happens to the best of us, but if you have a good backup strategy in place you can recover from even the worst data loss.    In today’s world business data is stored in digital format and losing data can wreck havoc on any type of business.

Let’s imagine for a moment that your company’s server crashes and you have no backup and recovery system to recover from. In reality, your employees cannot work without access to their computer files; your clients are told that your business is not operating “temporarily” so you can’t provide your service or merchandise on time, you have no proven record of how much your clients owe you and what you owe to your suppliers, your business is shut down and even if you have all your server records organized in hard copy you will not able to run your business!

 IT professionals have their own cost to come out and assess the server damage (whether the technician is available to show up immediately is another story). If you find out that most of your data cannot be recovered it might cost you a couple thousand dollars to buy new hardware but your unique business data is gone forever and there is no amount of money that you can pay to retrieve your business records.

If this sounds like a nightmare, it is and it happens everyday.

 One business owner describes the trauma of a data loss disaster:

 “I spent the week generating new brochures and fliers for my catering business. On Friday, I shut down my machines as usual. But on Monday morning, nothing would turn on. I checked all of the plugs, unplugged all of the connections and re-connected them, but still, nothing happened. Then I knew I was in trouble. My worst nightmare came true. I always had it on my to-do list to do a backup, but I never did. As a result, I lost pretty much all of my data. Thirteen years of work was completely wiped out. Now I tell everyone: don’t say it won’t happen to you, because it will!”

 Your company’s data is its asset, its value. Take a few minutes today to think about your data backup strategy, but most importantly act before a disaster happens! Not after!

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Email Security – Tips for Keeping Your Email Account Secure

On July 26, 2010, in Business Security, Email Backup, by admin

Email privacy and security is one of the greatest concerns in today’s world. Government agencies, large businesses, small businesses and private individuals make intense efforts to secure business information.

If your business falls under the umbrella of privacy laws and you face potential legal liability for misplaced data you need to make sure you follow this practical advice to keep your email account secure and to safeguard your business data.

1. Regularly Check for Viruses and Malware.

Run a scan on your    computer with a trusted anti-virus software. If the scan detects any  suspicious  programs or applications, remove them immediately.

2. Regularly Backup Your Email Account. (At least two copies, on-site and off-site) -  Make sure your backup is up-to-date in case you need to   recover important emails.

3. Change Your Password at Least Twice a Year.
Make sure you choose a password that contains a combination of numbers, characters, and case-sensitive letters to rengthen the security of your account.

4. Perform Regular Operating System and Browser Updates.
Whether you use Windows or Mac OS, we recommend enabling your automatic update setting, and updating when you get a notification.

5. Never Use Your Email Account Password on Another Website.
 If you enter your password in an external website and it’s compromised, someone could try to sign in to your email account with the same   information.

6. Protect Your Password.
Never enter your password after following a link in an email from an untrusted site.

7. Use a Secure Connection When Signing in.
In your email settings, select ‘Always use HTTPS.’ This setting protects your information from being stolen when you’re signing in to your      email account on a public wireless network, like at a cafe or hotel.

   
For more information on how to protect your business data click here.

Have a wonderful day!

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Data Protection for Mobile Users is Not Optional Anymore.

On July 20, 2010, in Backup Strategies, Business Security, General, Remote Backup/Online Backup, by admin

Last month the Oregon National Guard reported that they are dealing with the aftermath of a stolen laptop computer that contained the names and social security numbers of more than 3,500 soldiers. It happened when a Guard member used his laptop to conduct work from home and reported it stolen from his vehicle in the Portland area on June 21.

Statistics show that nearly three out of five personal computer users are lost, stolen, or damaged every year and, by the way, the most common place to lose a laptop is in the airport.

Think about it for a moment; one person left a laptop containing sensitive data in his car and now the financial life of 3,500+ families are at risk.

Laptop theft statistics show that the theft of one laptop results in an average financial loss of $89,000; only a small percentage of the sum actually relates to the hardware cost. (Source: Computer Security Institute/FBI Computer Crime & Security Survey).

In today’s corporate world when employees work out of the office with mobile computers, protecting mobile users is must!  A proper data backup protection strategy will save you tons of headache and problems.

Here are the four things you must do in order to secure your mobile computers.

  1. The best way to protect mobile data is to remove unnecessary data from your computer. Prohibited data should not be stored on your system or device unless it’s really necessary.
  2. Configure a username/password combination to access the data/device.
  3. If you carry sensitive data on your laptop I highly recommen you use Disk Encryption Software.
  4. Do not leave a single copy of your data on your mobile device; backup your data automatically every day to a secure remote data storage like PCIC’s.

These guidelines are easy to implement and can protect your data in the event that your mobile computers become compromised, lost or stolen.

And one more last thing, do in today! Tomorrow might be to late. 

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