September 2008 - Issue No. 17

 

Know how to safeguard your data 

Your data and computer equipment will be always at risk.  Here are just a few short samples:

 

On August 26th a virus was detected at the International Space Station, it was intended to gather personal information and most likely was transferred from an initial software load or from a personal compact flash card. Nasa called the virus a "nuisance" and the news was quickly downplayed.

 

Last month, through social engineering, many people downloaded fake Flash updates using links posted on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Flash is the most widely deployed software in the world and is mainly used to watch animations and videos from a web browser, but the fake one can make the machine totally unstable

 

In the United States, Steven Brill’s Verified Identity Pass, one of the Transportation Security Administration’s Registered Traveler program under the brand name Clear, lost a laptop containing 33,000 registered travelers' names. The laptop containing unencrypted names, addresses, birth dates, driver’s license numbers and passport numbers of customers seeking to enroll in the company’s Registered Traveler program dissapeared on July 26. The laptop was later found but the company's reputation suffered a blow.

 

Your data is constantly under attack and for this reason you must be sure you have control of your system. Some measures like archiving, disaster recovery, and anti-spam/anti-virus protection can give you a certain sense of confidence but you need to instill a culture of safer computing within your company. 

 

Don’t just wait to learn this the hard way. We are here to help. Feel free to contact us for more information on how to protect your systems and your most valuable asset, your data.

 

DataVault tips 

Don't turn off your DataVault

 

Keeping both your Local and Remote DataVaults running is crucial. Since your Local DataVault (in the office) is running on a 24/7 basis. If you turn off the Remote DataVault (Home) for long periods  of time (such as during a vacation), the Local DataVault will collect a large amount of new data. When the Remote DataVault is turned on, you may need to carry the Remote USB Hard Drive to the Local location for a new mirroring.

 

If you really need to turn off the DataVault for longer than 24 hours, please send us a notice. We will pause the Local backup to avoid a re-mirroring.