June 2008 - Issue No. 14  

 

Dirty Keyboards: 

A recent British study showed that the average computer keyboard is dirtier than a toilet seat. Having a clean keyboard and phone starts at home with washing your hands because it is very difficult to desinfect a dirty surface. Keyboards can help spread Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a type of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and can cause skin infections as well as pneumonia and infections of the bloodstream or surgical wounds. If you care about sick time the first place you should be looking is at your keyboard.

 

The more a device is touched by different workers, the more likely it will transmit a disease to an unsuspecting victim. Use disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers, or just remember to wash your hands, when sharing equipment.

 

Online Storage: 

Every day more and more people are storing their data using online storage. People using these services are trusting people they have never met (and may never meet in person) to protect very valuable possessions. If you ask them if they know where their data is being held there is a big chance they won't know the answer.

 

Companies are storing reports, word documents, email, accounting files, medical records, you name it online.

Individuals are storing photos, personal videos, important personal and business documents online

 

All the previous data have something in common -- they are irreplaceable.

 

What would happen if for some reason you need to recover your data at 10:00 p.m. and you get this message?

 

 

In 1997 many Hotmail accounts were lost and archived mail vanished, and nobody was able to help these customers. So, let's say you are one of those persons switching to Gmail and trusting that Google will be there for the rest of your life:

 

 

And we haven't said what may happen if you don't have Internet access. You may lose a customer because you are unable to access your data in time.

 

If you are using online services do you know where your data will go if the provider goes out of business? What would happen if you don't pay your account? Are you going to lose your data? Most of these services, especially the free ones, reserve the right to disconnect you at their discretion.

 

Two months ago DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Canada Inc. became very silent. In March they lost a data tape containing customer names, addresses and social insurance numbers for thousands of Canadian auto customers while in transit from Michigan to a Quebec credit agency. Forget the fact that tapes are unreliable and there is a big chance the data may not be recoverable; the point is you should maintain control of your data in all its forms.

 

One out of every five firms is concerned with the loss of data from a drive or tape going missing. This is in comparison to four out of five companies concerned with preventing data loss from e-mail.

 

Be sure you know how to keep your data in the only place that it is supposed to be, always in your own hands.  That is, unless you think your online storage company or courier will help you to rebuild your business in case of data loss.