Tag Archives: hard
Backing Up Files Isnt Just About Saving Your Work Information
Every responsible business owner knows that backing up files related to your business is not just smart its essential. You may use a thumb drive. You may use the Cloud. You may even have a backup hard drive attached to your computer for just that reason. But if youre not also backing up photos, emails, music and personal files, you could lose more than you bargained for in the next power outage.
Most of the really terrible stories data storage companies hear happen after the computer crashed. Thats because so many small business owners are diligent about backing up files for their business, but they completely forget about their personal information.
We understand why, too. Many business owners use a specific computer for personal use, and one for their business. But were willing to bet that you use your home computer for work, too. So while you always remember to backup your hard drive at work, you probably forget to do so at home. That means youre not backing up photos, e-cards or important documentation that you could lose through file corruption after a storm.
Another Backup Hard Drive Can Make All the Difference
Pretend for a moment that the computer crashed, and youve just turned it back on. Suddenly, you see the BSOD or the Blue Screen of death, as its commonly called by college students and techies. You try entering through safe mode; you try working with the screen commands before Windows even opens. But try as you might, you cant access the information on your computer and you forgot to plug in your backup hard drive. Sure, it reminds you that backing up files at home is important but are you fully aware of what you may have lost?
Pictures: Graduations, holidays, weddings, a honeymoon all gone. If youre not backing up your photos every time you upload them, you risk losing them for good.
Receipts: Do you shop online? Do you save all of your receipts in your email? If you dont, now is a good time to start. Those receipts will stay in the Cloud even after your computer crashed, so you can access them for returns, exchanges or tax purposes later.
Bills: So many people pay their bills online now, and you may have that service run directly through your bank. But if you save questionable bills, utility cancellations or your credit information in a separate file on the computer, you could lose your records.
Homework: If youre taking classes online or if you have kids who use the computer, chances are that youre backing up files through your word processing software. But once the computer crashed, those files were at risk of corruption or deletion. The same goes for backing up photos used for science projects, book reports or even Power Point presentations. And teachers dont like “the computer ate my homework” any more than the old story about the dog. A backup hard drive is an excellent way to save documents from disappearing into the great beyond.
So dont forget that backing up files goes beyond saving your work-related information. You should get into the habit of backing up photos, receipts and other personal documentation as well. It might save you a lot of heartache in the end.
Reliable Signs that Website Security has Been Breached
Until relatively recently, attacks against websites were fairly easy to spot. In most cases, the hacker or hackers behind such attacks defaced vulnerable websites or simply caused them to crash. Such attacks were typically mass scale in nature and were designed to cause as much damage as possible to a very wide number of targets. In contrast, many of the web attacks these days are far more targeted and stealthy in nature and are designed specifically to evade detection by anti-malware tools and intrusion detection systems. The most common modern goal behind website attacks is often to steal sensitive information such as customer data, financial information and customer data or to extort money from targeted businesses. Detecting such website security compromises can be challenging, but even the most sophisticated attacks often end up leaving telltale signs.
One reliable sign that website security has been compromised is when an internal system suddenly begins to transmit data to an unknown IP address. Web attacks are often launched to steal data from the underlying Web servers and the systems that are attached to it. The theft is typically carried out using malware programs that are capable of sniffing out specific pieces of information and then stealthily sending it out to a remote server from where the stolen data is collected by the attacker. Sometimes, the stolen data can be sent out in a continuous stream via commonly used ports, or sometimes in can be sent out in batches at previously scheduled intervals. In either case, such data transmissions are a good indicator of compromised site security. The rogue traffic can be hard to spot without the proper malware detection and network monitoring tools.
Unexplained traffic slowdowns can be another sign that website security has been compromised. Hackers often employ what are known as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to disrupt a websites operations. In a DDoS attack, the network connections linking a website to the Internet become clogged up with useless data packets making it very hard for legitimate traffic to get through. Such attacks are very common these days and are often used to extort money from targeted websites. Dealing with DDoS attacks can be extremely challenging and often require companies to add extra network capacity and traffic filtering tools.
One of the most obvious signs of a website security compromise is when it starts serving up malicious code, adware or spyware programs. Hackers often compromise reputed and well-known websites and use those sites to distribute their malware programs to unsuspecting web page visitors. The malware programs can be hidden in banner advertisements or on other parts of the site and get automatically downloaded onto a visitors browser. Such compromises are often hard to find, but can be detected using website malware monitoring and malware detection tools.
Reliable Signs that Website Security has Been Breached
Until relatively recently, attacks against websites were fairly easy to spot. In most cases, the hacker or hackers behind such attacks defaced vulnerable websites or simply caused them to crash. Such attacks were typically mass scale in nature and were designed to cause as much damage as possible to a very wide number of targets. In contrast, many of the web attacks these days are far more targeted and stealthy in nature and are designed specifically to evade detection by anti-malware tools and intrusion detection systems. The most common modern goal behind website attacks is often to steal sensitive information such as customer data, financial information and customer data or to extort money from targeted businesses. Detecting such website security compromises can be challenging, but even the most sophisticated attacks often end up leaving telltale signs.
One reliable sign that website security has been compromised is when an internal system suddenly begins to transmit data to an unknown IP address. Web attacks are often launched to steal data from the underlying Web servers and the systems that are attached to it. The theft is typically carried out using malware programs that are capable of sniffing out specific pieces of information and then stealthily sending it out to a remote server from where the stolen data is collected by the attacker. Sometimes, the stolen data can be sent out in a continuous stream via commonly used ports, or sometimes in can be sent out in batches at previously scheduled intervals. In either case, such data transmissions are a good indicator of compromised site security. The rogue traffic can be hard to spot without the proper malware detection and network monitoring tools.
Unexplained traffic slowdowns can be another sign that website security has been compromised. Hackers often employ what are known as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to disrupt a websites operations. In a DDoS attack, the network connections linking a website to the Internet become clogged up with useless data packets making it very hard for legitimate traffic to get through. Such attacks are very common these days and are often used to extort money from targeted websites. Dealing with DDoS attacks can be extremely challenging and often require companies to add extra network capacity and traffic filtering tools.
One of the most obvious signs of a website security compromise is when it starts serving up malicious code, adware or spyware programs. Hackers often compromise reputed and well-known websites and use those sites to distribute their malware programs to unsuspecting web page visitors. The malware programs can be hidden in banner advertisements or on other parts of the site and get automatically downloaded onto a visitors browser. Such compromises are often hard to find, but can be detected using website malware monitoring and malware detection tools.