The Merits of Cloud Backups

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So many times when we meet with new clients and we audit their network health and we get to the “How are you backing up your data?” question, the person in charge of the server will look up with a big smile and point out how they back up every night (like they were told to do) and how they switch their backup disks every day (“and see, we know that tapes are bad so we use USB disk drives”). And then they look at me expectantly and wait for me to tell them that their backup situation is all set. But, sadly, that’s when I have to (gently) burst their bubble and point out the flaws in their plan.

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Maintaining Your Technology – Don’t Be “That Guy”

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You buy a car and you regularly change the oil and take it in for its mileage-appropriate checkups. Why? Because you don’t want it to die on you on the highway on the way to closing your biggest deal. Well, the same is true for your IT infrastructure – – your servers, desktops, firewalls, switches, wireless access points, etc. – – they all need regular maintenance or they will, per Mr. Murphy and his law, break down at the most inopportune moments.

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Why Security Awareness Matters

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If you look at all of the high-profile information security incidents over recent years, they have one thing in common – – the breach occurred because of human error. Gone are the days when the attackers brute force their way through the external firewalls and protective systems using advanced “hacking” techniques. It is much easier for the bad guys to just get someone at the victim company to click on a link that contains some malware that exploits a known vulnerability and bang – – they are on the company’s network with control over at least one computer. And, once they have that access, it’s a relatively short, simple walk to having administrative control over many or all of the computers on that network.

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