Save the Data, Survive the Disaster

Readers of the blog will know we deal with preparing for disasters in time to either avoid or deal with them. But what happens in the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster?

How do we pick up the pieces and begin the task of trying to restore our lives to the way they were before the storm, the flood, the attack?

Businesses as well as individuals keep so much information in electronic form that it's worth playing the "what if?" game and asking ourselves: "What if my computer files were all lost? How would I recover that important information? Is it even possible for me to recover that important information?"

A second "what if" game to play is to pretend you're trying to hack into your own computer. What passwords would you need, where would you look to find backup discs containing software applications and sensitive information: bank accounts, investment info, social security numbers, personal papers, medical information, etc. if it becomes obvious where you've hidden these things, it may be obvious to a hacker or a burglar too.

Data can only be recovered if it exists. That means taking regular backups of computer files and then making sure those backups are stored in a safe place. The goal is to be able to resume operation of any computer-based activities that are important to us from running a business, to storing family photographs or simply playing our favorite computer games. The criterion is that if you have something on your computer that would upset you if it suddenly no longer existed, then that data and software needs to be backed up regularly.

Here are a few things that can be done to make a catastrophic loss easier to cope with:

1. Make a list of all software license numbers and keys, security passwords and any other information needed to restore software onto a computer and put that list in a secure place where no unauthorized people can get to it.

2. Make security passwords complicated (a mix of alpha and numeric characters, both upper and lowercase). The longer and more complex the password, the tougher it is for hackers to figure out what it is. Use a different password for each application and change them all frequently. Do not share passwords with others.

3. Ideally, make two backups of both data and application software packages; one backup to stay in a secure location away from home or place of business, and the other to be available in a secure location on site.

There are other things that can be done to improve security, including hiring a professional service to manage data storage. But either way, somehow, data and information needs to be secured.