Make 2009 a better year for you by taking these actions to protect your computer against crashes, hacks, and viruses.
- Make sure you have up-to-date anti-virus software installed. Schedule automatic or real-time scans so you don’t have to remember to run them. If you don’t have anti-virus software, try the free one from AVG.
- Apply all patches from Microsoft or Apple. Turn on automatic patch updating so you always get the latest security patches.
- Update or install anti-spyware software. Check out Ad-Aware or Spybot Search & Destroy for some excellent free options.
- Stop using Internet Explorer. Switch to a more secure browser, like Firefox, Google Chrome, or Flock.
- Start using stronger passwords that are harder to guess. Use tools like PasswordSafe and Roboform to help you manage and remember them.
- Disable WEP on your wireless network. Ensure you are using a recent wireless card and access point that supports WPA.
- If you accept credit cards, make sure you aren’t keeping any more data than you absolutely need. Also, check with your merchant processor to find out what your PCI compliance requirements are.
- Check your payment applications to ensure they are listed as PA-DSS compliant.
- Backup your data. It’s the most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your business against disaster. I’ve written recently about backups here and here.
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I’m a big fan of moving things into the cloud. So when my PC crashes, burns or the battery simply dies (I seem to have a talent for that – went through 3 in the last year), I don’t really need to reinstall much.
I use Box.net for file storage. Gmail for email. Delicious for bookmarks. And Passpack for passwords, pins and codes.
Yes, I’m a Passpack founder, so that last one is obviously biased.
For everything else, I’m considering Carbonite, which is an online backup and recovery system. Haven’t taken that step yet, but maybe soon…
Tara Kelly’s last blog post..Passpack Desktop & Offline Version Updates
Thanks for your comment, Tara. I’m a fan of keeping some things in the cloud, too. I use Google Docs quite a bit and Foxmarks for my bookmarks. I’m currently testing Mozy for backups, too. I’ll definitely give Passpack a look. Thanks for the info.
Data Recovery is a very costly option that is why you should always check your storage media for any signs of wear and tear.’-’