Safeguard Your Business Against Costly Data Loss

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No Fooling Around in April! Safeguard Your Business Against Costly Data Loss

Danger: Your Unsecured Wifi

Why Do Hackers Love Your Unsecured Wireless Networks?
1. Because when they use your open wireless connection to commit illegal online activity (think credit card fraud, launching virus attacks, etc.) the Secret Service (yes, they’re the ones that investigate cyber crimes) will trace the source back to YOU! And until the Secret Service determines that it was a criminal using your network instead of you being the criminal, you won’t be able to conduct business. Moreover, cyber criminals are moving to more remote locations to commit their crimes, places where locals think “It won’t happen here.”

2. Because your private data is ripe for the picking when they connect to your wireless network! If you have bank accounts, credit card numbers, tax information, resumes, email accounts, contact files, schedules, and other personally identifying information stored on your PCs, a hacker with the right tools can steal your identity, open credit in your name, sell your information in the criminal underworld, and you’re left cleaning up the damage they did to your good reputation.

3. Because stealing bandwidth from your open internet connection is free! Except that in addition to slowing down your internet speeds when you’re trying to work, your Internet Service Provider may decide to charge you more for the extra bandwidth the uninvited thief used to illegally download movies and music.

So fight crime and protect yourself: Secure your Wifi!

Phishing: Don’t Bite The Hook

STOP! Don’t Open Any Email Attachments or Click Those Links!
Many emails may appear to be coming from legitimate shipping companies such as UPS, USPS, or FedEx, but BEWARE! Most of these “Tracking Number” or “Delivery Confirmation” emails contain virus infected attachments or display a legitimate looking, clickable link to a website… except the link takes users to a malicious website, often appearing identical to the real shipper’s site. And as users get savvy to this con, the phishing emails become increasingly more convincing.

So how do you tell if the shipping Customer Service notice is fraudulent?

Design flaws: Distorted or Irregularly Sized Logos
Poor grammar: Grammatical errors and excessive use of exclamation points
Misspellings: Not only incorrectly spelled words, but links to websites that may be modifications or variations of the legitimate ups.com website address
Sense of urgency: Alarming messaging requesting immediate action
Unexpected requests: A request attempting to obtain money, financial information or personal information in exchange for the delivery of a package
Communication gaps: An e-mail that does not provide an alternative method for communicating the requested information (telephone, mail or physical locations).

S.O.S.- Save Our Security

Data Powers Your Business. Prevent Data Loss With Systematic Backups.
Within the last couple months, a desperate family called when their hard drive crashed. What did they lose? ALL the photos from the first four years of their daughter’s life. The hard drive was unrecoverable but we were able to rescue hundreds of deleted photos from their camera’s media card. At least they had some photos, but all the pictures of baby’s first steps were gone.

How do baby photos relate to your business? The family was still able to go on living without their pictures, but if the hard drive that crashed had been one at your office, your company data would have been lost. Could you have stayed in business after losing ALL YOUR DATA? The sobering statistics:

93% of companies filed for bankruptcy within one year of losing their data to disaster for 10 days or longer
50% of those companies filing for bankruptcy actually filed immediately after the catastrophic data loss (Source: National Archives & Records Administration, Washington)
30% of businesses that experience a major fire close within one year (Source: Home Office Computing Magazine)

Even companies who believe their backup solution is safe have suffered mission critical data loss. Tape backups, the old standard, only restore data successfully about 50% of the time (Gartner Group). Other unmonitored, automated backup services often fail without alerting the business owner to the defect– some nationally advertised backup services are the worst offenders.

You can avoid losing your data and livelihood by consulting with your local IT company who will setup, monitor, and regularly test your backups. And because you have a personal relationship with your local IT company, your backup solution is customized to your needs for the most cost effective solution to your company.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Hackers Love Your Unsecured Wireless!
  • Phishing Emails In Your Inbox
  • Data Protection 911: Backups
  • Time Saving Keyboard Tricks (see sidebar)





Time Saving Keyboard Tricks

CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
CTRL+Y (Redo after Undo)
ALT+Tab (Tab through open windows)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
F1 (Opens Help Menu)
F2 (Renames selected item)
F3 (Search file or folder)
F5 (Refreshes page)