What the...why blogger?

So, you're an IT person, you know how to set up web sites, how come you didn't build your own?

A good question, easily answered. Quite simply, I didn't want to waste time on my own web site, time that could be better spent dealing with my clients. I also wanted more from my site than just a glorified business card. I wanted a space where I could write about experiences and occurrences that may prove helpful to others. And of course I wanted it set up quickly ;). It isn't so easy to set up your own web server, with a full content management system, basically replicating what I could easily get for free.

Didn't really matter to me which blogging service to use, blogger certainly met all the criteria I'd required. So for now at least, here I am!

Back Up a Second...

Many people take a gamble with the most important component of their IT lives. Their own data. I can't tell you how many calls I've received from clients after a hardware failure has wiped out a significant portion of their digital lives. Maybe it's because this whole digital revolution has swept people up, without really realizing just how much of our lives now depend on being connected to our data. The consequences of a hardware failure can be catastrophic, costing real dollars and inflicting lasting pain from the loss of the catalogs of our lives - pictures, movies, emails and so on.

But it's such an easy thing to avoid, and the real dollar cost is quite low, so what's stopping us?? At this time in our neighbourhood, a terabyte of storage goes for around a hundred dollars. That compares quite well to the $1500 or $2000 a data recovery firm would charge to restore the data from that dead hard drive. It's well known that if you get more than 3 years out of a typical hard drive, you're doing ok. If you get more than 5 years out of it, you're doing quite well, and definitely living on borrowed time. How long has your drive been spinning faithfully for you?

Most external drives these days come with software to automate the backup process, so we don't even have to think about it. Well, that's not entirely true. Even if you have a backup drive and software to automate it, there's still one critical piece of the puzzle: you do have to test your backups from time to time. Or at least check the backup software logs (and they all keep logs) to ensure there were no errors. Thinking you're safe and being backed up is one thing, knowing it is quite another. Ideally, you'll do a test restore to make sure you can actually recover a copy of a file from your backup.

So what do you need to keep your data safe? As mentioned, one of those handy external hard drives. Go spend the hundred bucks, it's well worth it. Get one that's USB 3.0 capable, even if your computer isn't (that may change for you soon anyway). Most of them are easy enough to use now, it's basically plug and play. Install the software, usually the default settings are sufficient, and let it do it's job. Familiarize yourself with the software, how to find the logs, check what it's actually backing up, and how often. Decide if that's enough for you. Ask yourself, in the event of a catastrophic failure, how much data am I willing to lose? If your backups are a month apart, you'll lose everything from the last backup (potentially a month ago) to the current date.

If this sounds like too much for you to figure out on your own, give me a call - I can install and configure the drive and backup strategy for you, and teach you to use it, all in about a half hour.

Now that I think about it, I better get on some backups around here...

Antivirus Scam

A client called me not long ago, complaining about a call they received from a company purporting to be affiliated with Microsoft. They advised my client that her computer was at infected, hackers had taken it over, everything was compromised and in order to correct it she had to agree to allow them to control her computer and install (and pay for) some security software. Unfortunately she trusted what they said and allowed them to control her computer, prompting her on the phone to hand over the keys to her system (via logmein).

Once they had control, they installed their so-called security software, windows were opening and closing before my client's eyes, things were downloading, installing, and all the while the smooth-talking operators were assuring her that they've saved her from Internet disaster.

She agreed to their demands for payment, at first giving a credit card number. The scammers then informed her the charge didn't go through and could she send the amount due via Western Union. Luckily she started to get suspicious, and hung up the phone. She quickly called and cancelled her credit cards, then called me to check out her computer. They continued to call her for the next day or so, but after threatening to report them to the police they finally left her alone.

Unfortunately she also gave them a considerable amount of personal information. The possibility exists that they are also in the identity theft business or may have sold her information to those even less scrupulous. It just goes to show you that you can never be too careful, beware of cold calls such as these, and most importantly check with your friendly neighbourhood IT Consultant before making changes to your system!