A Complete Data Protection Plan

An Online Data Backup service like ours is the foundation of any disaster prevention plan. If you have a recent backup, you can recover your data from any type of disaster: hardware, software, human error or sabotage.

Take your first step -- try our FREE backup software trial today!

Threat: Viruses are a constant threat to your data. A virus can infect memory, disks and other data storage devices, and can corrupt or delete individual data and operating system files or wipe out an entire disk.

Solution: Antivirus software can both prevent your computer from being infected by viruses, and disinfect your computer if it is already infected. Scans can be run at any time or scheduled to run automatically. Antivirus software can also be configured to actively monitor your system memory and incoming files for invading viruses. It is important to keep your virus definitions up to date so that recently created viruses can be recognized. We encourage the use of auto protection and auto update.

Options: Some of the most popular antivirus software packages include Norton Antivirus, McAfee VirusScan, and Grisoft AVG (a free version is available).

Threat: Hackers, viruses, spyware and other malicious software can connect to your computer or run software from your computer to compromise your data and your privacy, slow down your system, etc.

Solution: A firewall protects your incoming and outgoing connections from abuse by untrusted software.

Options: If you use Windows XP, you can enable the built-in Windows Internet Connection Firewall. Right-click your network connection, then click Properties. Click the Advanced tab and check the box "Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet".

Some of the most popular software firewalls include Norton Personal Firewall (part of Norton Internet Security), Zone Labs ZoneAlarm (a free version is available), McAfee, Sygate and Tiny. We recommend using one of these in conjunction with the built-in Windows firewall.

Hardware firewalls from Cisco Systems, NETGEAR, and D-Link Systems cost more but provide higher security.

Solution: A router is a hardware device that allows your local network to connect to the Internet. Routers can provide a layer of security because they can be configured to control incoming and outgoing connections.

Threat: Adware and spyware are related software that infects your computer, monitors your Internet usage, and annoys you with advertisements or collects information that can be used to target you to advertisers.

Solution: Adware and spyware protection packages block or remove adware and spyware.

Options: Popular adware and spyware protection software includes Lavasoft AdAware and SpyBot Search and Destroy.

Threat: Many viruses and hackers exploit security holes in the Windows operating system to access, abuse and damage computer systems and data.

Solution: Windows security updates are software patches that reduce these weaknesses.

Options: You can download and install free Windows updates from Microsoft's website. You can also start from Windows Help and click Windows Update.

Threat: Power surges and sags caused by lightning strikes, demand spikes and faulty wiring can cause file corruption and even hardware damage. A power cut could corrupt Windows or interrupt your backup and other critical software.

Solution: A surge protector is hardware that protects your equipment from power surges.

Solution: An uninterruptible power supply is hardware that regulates the power, also protecting your equipment from power sags and outages.

Example: Our mirrored data centers have redundant power supplies and backup generators.

Threat: If your hardware is not physically secure, your data is vulnerable to theft and sabotage.

Solution: There are many devices you can consider, such as traditional or electronic locks and keys, burglar bars, alarms, motion detectors, security badges and security guards.

Example: Our mirrored data centers have excellent physical security, including finger scanners for physical access, motion detectors and camera tracking.

Threat: If your office is destroyed by a natural disaster, you will need an alternate place to work.

Solution: Be prepared with a contingency of operations plan that includes a place to move your organization's operations, including office space, furniture, hardware and software.

• If you have or can obtain computers with identical models, you can restore your entire system, including all applications and data, using the Easy System Restore feature of Remote Data Backups.
• If you are restoring to different computers, you can at least recover your data and reinstall your software.

Threat: If nobody is responsible for your data protection, you can't be sure that your data will be protected.

Solution: Management should write and implement a disaster prevention and recovery plan which includes needs analysis, hardware and software solutions, a budget and an implementation plan.

Our CEO Dan Dugal is a disaster prevention and recovery expert and is available to present a seminar through your franchise headquarters. Feel free to contact us if you would like specific information or advice.