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If you are a small business owner, chances are you have data on your computers that are critical for the operation of your business.  How you secure your critical data is important as there are many options that are available to you, with some that are not always the best.  First, you must decide on what is the best solution to protect your data.

First lets look at backing up your drives to external devices.  This is in some cases a very affordable option for most small businesses.  This can be as easy and may be just as simple as dragging the files to the external hard drive, thumb drive, etc…. Eventually, you will most likely have to invest in backup software that can do this for your business and all you have to do is exchange drives once a day, week, or month, depending on how important the data is for your business.  Another positive side to this is how quickly you are able to retrieve your data in event of data loss.  One of the downsides to this is human error, if you forget to backup, and a disaster occurs like a fire, or a flood, or your hard drive crashing,  and you lose everything.  It is very important that if you use external backups for your data that you take that drive with you and switch them with another drive on a consistent basis.

Another option is online backups.  This option takes away most of the human error that can occur.  It has different pricing models, but normally you will find that it has a tiered pricing structure based on the amount of data you store on their servers. How this normally works is you download their software and setup what data you want backed up onto their machines.  Something to make sure when looking into this backup service is security, make sure they encrypt your data, and their response time when you need to recover your data.  The more data you have, the longer it will take to retrieve your data.  Sometimes you can order discs with your data from these companies to ensure that you have more options when a disaster occurs.  It is also important that the company you use guarantees your data.  Not all online backup companies guarantee that you will have your data when you lose it.  Lastly, it is important to note that when you schedule your backups, make sure you do it at night, or when your computer is not in use, as the backups usually take quite a bit of your workstations resources, and you don’t want to be banging your head against the desk trying to get that PowerPoint done, and your machine is running at the pace of a slug.

My customers will ask me, what is the best solution for their business?  Local backups with external devices? Or online backups?  I usually tell them, both.  We have a program that backs up your data to both an external hard drive and online.  This gives you the insurance you need as a business, that your data will be there for you at all times. An added bonus is the security in knowing that, if, for whatever reason, your data is not being backed up, we are notified and can respond immediately so that your data is guaranteed. 

Buddy Stevens

Commercial Accounts Manager 

4th Dimension Computers & Technology

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Over the past year, I have noticed a large trend in the computer industry, organizations and people coming into the store, with computers infected with viruses, trojans, and other malicious software due to something that has transpired on Facebook, or other social media websites like Twitter and Myspace. These social media websites, specifically Facebook and Twitter, have become quite popular over the past few years, and with the rising popularity also comes the increasing threats and dangers to the users and businesses. Facebook in particular has become the top favorite of virus creators, scam artists, spammers, and identity thieves. Facebook’s large user base means big money to these con artists. Today, these virus creators and con artists are getting very good at looking legit, so many people are falling prey to the tricks used by these cyber criminals. That is why I felt necessary to write this so to help users and organizations get informed by the latest tactics used by some of these individuals that could harm your systems. After all, if your workstations suffer a virus, that could mean lost productivity and money due to a computer that has to come into the shop for repairs!

Viruses on Facebook

The most notorious of these is the Koobface virus.  Koobface is an email worm that will mail copies of itself to all the friends listed in an infected PC.  It will then ask you to update the flash player in order to view the video.  Of course the update is a fake, and will install Koobface on the computer.. How to avoid Koobface? Never open links from messages like I just saw this hilarious video of you dancing! Your face is so red. You have to check it out! or something like these Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf On The Street; Examiners Caught Downloading Grades From The Internet; You must see it!!! LOL. Even if these messages are from friends, don’t click on them! I have also seen scams where they use the chat window where a program will talk to you like they know  you trying to get you to click on a link.  Just remember, if it doesn’t sound like your friend, then it probably isn’t, and you should email them and find out if they are talking to you and if not, they should change their password.

Tip: Do not click on links from messages even from friends if it looks striking and uncharacteristic of your friend. Virus creators usually try to catch your attention for you to click on the links.

Malware on Facebook Applications

Downloading Facebook applications is also another way to get your computer compromised. Applications that contain malware will look benign but in fact will hide viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers. Once you install the app, you also install the malware which gives the hacker access to your passwords, personal information, and then potentially your paypal accounts, and credit card numbers, etc.

Tip: Before you install an app, gather information first by searching at Google. Also, have a good antivirus and antispyware software installed. We sell Norton for 16 dollars per copy right now.

Scams on Facebook

Because of Facebooks large user base, it has become the new playground of scam artists. There are many email scams asking for money or the free iPad scam. If a friend suddenly acts weird (i.e. claiming to be stranded) and asks for money then you might be a victim of a scam. Your friend’s account might have been compromised and the scammer is taking advantage of unsuspecting victims.

Tip: If an offer sounds too good to be true then probably it is. If a friend or acquaintance suddenly acts differently then he/she probably isn’t whom you think he/she is.

Links on Facebook

The great thing about Facebook is that we can post and share links with others via wall posts and messages. The bad thing is that some of these links can lead you to sites or places that can harm your computer. Dubious links can sometimes be hard to spot since some of these are embedded with legitimate links.

Tip: Dubious links in wall posts can be the hardest to catch. If the links look suspicious then don’t click it. Be sure to have an updated antivirus software and antispyware installed. We sell Norton right now for 16 dollars per copy, which is good for a year, so if you don’t have it, you out to come by and pick up a copy!

Phishing on Facebook

Phishing is a common practice among con artists to get your username and password. Once your computer is compromised, they can pretend as you and scam your friends or send malicious software. They can also steal valuable information like birthday, mother’s maiden name (middle name), etc. These can be used to access your bank accounts, medical information, credit cards, and paypal accounts etc.

Tip: Be sure to always login from the Facebook website. Do not login from pages that you come across that looks similar to Facebook. Provide minimal personal information in your profile of Facebook.

The most important thing you can do as an organization to help prevent this from happening, is to set policies that will protect your systems and data.  If you want, you can go as far as to block certain websites (facebook, twitter, and myspace) from your entire network, using a special router that allows you to blacklist websites.  Or if you want to use these social media websites to help promote your organization, you can blacklist websites from specific computers as well, This will allow you to be more in control of what your employees are doing during the workday and protect your data and technology at the same time.  Either way, if you want to learn how to protect your data and business systems, give me a call, I can help you get there!

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