Malware, short for malicious software, takes many forms:  Viruses; spyware; scareware; trojans; worms; and more.  Find out the definitions of each of these, how they work, and how to best protect yourself.

 It may be superstition, but many of us still believe that catastrophes come in 3s. In the case of a catastrophic loss of business facility (i.e. hurricane, earthquake, waterlogging of fire hoses), many businesses get to experience all three of these catastrophes within the span of a few short days (or even hours). Firstly, one must endure the physical and emotional trauma of experiencing the actual disaster. Secondly, one must pick through the pieces and assess how bad things really are. Thirdly, and the most delicate, will be communicating with employees and customers, having to tell them what’s happened, how bad it is, and what uncertainties the future holds. A Backup System Alone is Not a Disaster Recovery Plan Most small business managers rise to their positions because they have the vision and drive to succeed. For them, planning for a disaster can feel like planning to fail. They don’t like to think about what a disaster would do to their business continuity, so they don’t. Of course, they appr ...

Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center by Heather Clancy Yes, as you've doubtless heard umpteen times, even the smallest business is vulnerable to a PC or network security breach. But you can find some peace of mind simply by taking some preventive measures. Better yet, by taking action before an incident occurs. IT consultants believe that the most effective data security policies are those that treat security not just as an IT problem but as an underlying business process. What good are firewalls, for example, if you don't have a way for trusted business partners to access your network from a remote location? How effective is a software patch management service if telecommuting employees who are rarely in the office aren't encouraged (or forced) to update? Step one for any security strategy means getting your entire organization involved in the discussion. If you're an IT type, find yourself a champion who has line-of-business responsibilities; someone who understands your c ...

Millions of BlackBerry users around the world had their work, business, and social lives severely affected recently after a server crash that disconnected smartphone users across the globe. The three-day outage interrupted email messages and Internet services for customers spanning five continents. In today's world of continuous communication, a network disruption can be detrimental to your business. Below are some simple tips to keep you and your employees connected during an outage. SMS Text Updates: Regardless of the severity of the interruption, it is important you have a way to notify employees, clients, and stakeholders. SMS text messaging has proven to work when other mobile functions are down. Backup Contacts: Keep your contacts updated across all channels, including phone, email, and social media. This will make it easy to reach out to the right people quickly. Update Your Website: Know how to quickly update your website to address the situation. Consider having a pre-populated webp ...

To some people a disaster would mean the end of the world; they lose everything, their name, money, and means of livelihood but to some people a disaster would make no difference. Yeah, that is very much possible these days, thanks to disaster planning. This kind of planning is very familiar to contingency planning where businesses set aside a sum of money monthly or annually to pay for any kind of product guarantee or failure or just to secure them from any unexpected harmful situation

There a few large firms in the world that actually think about disaster planning and consider it an integral part of their business; most small and medium business tend to think small and ignore these vital issues. Irony of the matter is that big businesses that are already stable and successful happen to save themselves when a disaster strikes and poor small and medium businesses are the ones suffering the major loss- to the extent that the business might shut down. But all that can change; you can save yourself millions of dollars if you just think smart and act fast-engage in a disaster recovery plan.