You’ve got password protection on everything from your office computer to your microwave.  Between updating your Facebook status, checking in with your friends, paying bills, texting (hopefully not while driving) and talking, your cell phone has become an extension of your arm.  You make very sure to keep your computer locked down… how about your phone?

I’ve noticed more than a few smart phone users that don’t take the time to lock their cell phone.  While it may seem like a nuisance to enter a 4 digit code before you are able to make a call or check your email, take a minute to think about how your use your phone.  Have you ever REALLY thought about the information stored within? Read the rest of this entry

Cloud computing is all the rage these days.  Every time you turn around you’re hearing something about how it’s the wave of the future and how it’s cheaper, better, faster, etc.  For some businesses, the “move to the cloud” can be a good thing, but in other cases it can be a very risky proposition.  You need to ask yourself – can your business rely on the cloud?

Recently, Amazon’s EC2 cloud server service went down for more than a day.  If you are/were an Amazon customer using this service you lost service.  In some cases you lost data and in some cases the data that was lost was NOT recoverable.  Some major players in the social media landscape (Foursquare, Reddit, Quora, Hootsuite and Moby) were completely unusable.  Additionally portions of CNET’s functionality was compromised.  CNET’s response?  “We’ll be back shortly, we hope. Sorry, it sucks for us too. We’d point fingers, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without EC2.” Read the rest of this entry

First, let me start by clearly pointing out that no matter how much data you have, you always should have a backup. No matter what that backup is, online or offline.

What is an offline backup? An offline backup is any kind of backup where your data is stored on removable media such as a memory stick, CD-ROM disk, DVD disk, or external hard drive. Years ago, the primary storage device for offline backups were tapes. Tapes are no longer a viable solution for a lot of backups because they lack the storage capacity and are more expensive per gigabyte than other forms of storage.

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First, if you have Plan A from Acroment – you are already protected from this virus and have nothing to worry about.

Second, if you are a computer user who updates their computer on a regular basis with the latest updates from Microsoft, have a current anti-virus subscription, and have scanned your computer recently; you also have nothing to worry about.

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If you have a full time employee who serves as your “IT Person” or you have an outside firm here are 5 things EVERY business owner should know about their computer system:

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