|
|
|
Jewish World Review July 13, 2012 / 23 Tamuz, 5772 Prepare in advance for disasters --- they will happen By Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Writing to French physicist Jean Baptiste Leroy some 223 years ago, a then-83-year-old Benjamin Franklin reported that the young American republic was underway: "Our Constitution is in actual operation. Everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."
Were Mr. Franklin writing today, he might well add "disasters" to that list of "certain" happenings. As the events of the past two weeks illustrate, disasters can happen, even to the most prepared of us.
Most American computer users dodged a bullet on July 9, the so-called "Malware Meltdown" day when the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned off safe computer servers that routed users whose computers were infected with the "DNSchange" malware to the proper Internet sites. If your computer had the malware and it hadn't been cleaned, you were out of luck until your service provider or IT department helped get you back online.
As noted, most of us escaped unscratched: only a few thousand computers, if that many, were affected. A week's worth of warnings on radio, television and online steered most people to safety before the FBI cutoff.
Before that, of course, the sudden June 29 "derecho" storm knocked out electrical power and, with that, took down home computers and Internet connections, as well as the "server farms" that supported operations of Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest. For those three companies, and others, the last thing you'd want is to be offline, and yet it happened, however briefly.
So what can you do to stay protected? Several things spring to mind.
First, KNOW DISASTER WILL STRIKE. I'm not trying to be a prophet here, just sensible: computers are, by and large, mechanical devices still. Many will break at some point. When they do, you can lose data, and sometimes that data will be more valuable than the hardware. (Even with the advent of solid-state flash memory-based "hard drives," there's still some potential for data loss, however slight.)
Knowing that disaster will strike, you'll want to be prepared. Have your data backed up, either locally - with an external hard drive and backup software found in operating systems such as Microsoft's Windows or Apple's Mac OS X - or in the cloud using services such as Carbonite.com or Mozy.com, to name two. For small businesses especially, having good backups is essential.
Second, PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER AGAINST VIRUSES AND MALWARE. This entails two steps. One is to have good anti-virus software installed on your computer: I like Symantec's Norton products for Windows-based systems, and ZeoBit.com's MacKeeper for Mac-based systems. There are other good anti-virus companies out there as well. The main thing is to have your computer scanned regularly to avoid problems. This can be set up as an automatic function, and it's worth it, in my view.
Also important: keep the anti-virus software up to date, using the update features of the program and/or operating system.
Along with the anti-virus software, be smart about your e-mail and other online links. If something is unfamiliar, or "too good to be true" (and, I promise, neither the FBI nor the United Nations is sending out emails promising million-dollar payouts to you), then trash the e-mail. Delete it, don't clink on any links, do not pass "Go," and do not inherit a virus, malware or a "bot" that'll mess up your machine.
The same applies to bizarre items on Facebook: my friends don't want me to buy women's shoes, or handbags. Clicking on these links, maliciously posted by those who gain access to some Facebook accounts make you a victim. Run away, and quickly.
Most important, DON'T IMAGINE YOU ARE IMMUNE. You may very well be fortunate and not have a serious problem for years. But anything can happen, so your best protection is to be vigilant, have a backup, use the right, up-to-date software and be careful - it's a rough world out there!
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here. © 2012, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
