Does your business rely on computers in its day-to-day operations?  If so, ask yourself this important question:  If you were to have a major computer-related loss, could your business operate and remain profitable while awaiting replacement of equipment and restoration of data?  

For most of us, the answer to this critical question is some form of NO.  Therefore, it is crucial that you adopt loss control procedures to help safeguard your vital computer data and equipment.  Here are some recommendations.  

7 Golden Rules of Safe Computing 

• 1.      Back up on a regular basis.  Why? Because you have files you can’t afford to lose.  You may ask – How often should I back up my files?  The answer is how much time do you want to spend re-entering data.  If you have done a significant amount of work – take a backup.  As a guideline once a week is sufficient.  Critical projects should be backed up any time large changes are made but typically not more than once a day.  It’s easy and it will help you to avoid frustration and hours of lost work will be restored in minutes. 
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•       IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection is a great product to use for backups.  It is easy to use and can be setup to backup files as they are updated or to be backed up once a day.  You decide how often and which files to update.  It's also very easy to restore files.  If you can't restore the files there isn't much point in backing them up.
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• 2.      Buy an anti-virus scanner and update it on a regular basis.  Two common packages are Norton Anti-virus and MacAfee Virus Scan.  But remember that buying the software is only the first step.  Since new viruses are born everyday you must make sure to get the most current updates to your anti-virus software.  The software manufacturers make updates available via the Internet and most will perform an update automatically if your software is configured to do so.  However, don’t simply rely on the automatic function.  Be sure to check that this occurs and do it manually if need be.  
• 3.      Don’t run any software before scanning it first with your virus scanner.  That’s right - even packaged software can have a virus that will wreak havoc on your computer. 
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• 4.      Be very suspicious when someone sends you files you didn’t ask for.  The most common way of spreading viruses is by trading disks or programs with others, e-mail attachments and downloading files from the Internet.
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• 5.      Be careful opening any files you exchange with other people.  Remember a combination of anti-virus programs and backups should make an infection only an inconvenience.  Make backups, scan files and software and stay away from pirated software.  There is never a need to reformat your hard disk to get rid of a virus.  Restore from backups – programs are infected not data.
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• 6.      Consider Firewalls.  A firewall is a program that sets up an invisible boundary between your system and the Internet.  In today’s world of DSN and cable modems your PC is very vulnerable.  A firewall can alert you to unauthorized attempts to access your files from outside your organization.  
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• 7.      Don’t get paranoid.  Very often users will do more damage with panicked recovery attempts than a virus or Trojan horse would have.  

By following the above suggestions you will have your ounce of prevention to avoid disaster.