We are all heading somewhere.
Whether it’s to visit family for the holidays, a trip to the grocery store or being on the path to enhance your life, one thing necessary to arrive at your destination is learning how to change lanes effectively.
I could speak to you about literally changing lanes – using your blinkers, mirrors and gracefully merging into the gap that awaits you. That will surely get you to your destination safely and on time.
Let’s move this conversation to metaphorically changing lanes in your life.
With the New Year right around the corner, reflecting on 2014 will inform you of where you want to go in 2015.
What lane do you want to be in 2015?
The fast lane, the slow lane or somewhere in the middle?
For those of you that have been following me for a minute, you know I choose the fast lane. However, I’ve had a few signals lately, partnered with internal nudges, to move to a different lane.
How the heck do you do that when you’re used to moving at 100 mph and you have got places to go?
First, ease your foot off the gas. As I ponder what’s most important these days, I reconnect with my personal values, the non-negotiables that have to be present for me to say YES to something. If the activity is not aligned with those values, I say no, or at least not now. One of my values is to have fun with everything I do, so if it is not fun, I either look at how to make it fun or delegate the task to someone that finds it fun.
As I slow down, I enjoy the beauty around me. This lets me pick and choose the things I want to fill my calendar with. The second step to effectively changing lanes is to surround yourself with people that are spending time in the lane you want to be in.
Jim Rohn, author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker said, we are most like the 5 people we spend the most time with. Make a list of the people you are with the most and honestly ask yourself if they are supporting you in getting to your chosen destination. If not, start to put your attention on the type of people you desire and begin to attract them into your life.
Last but not least, have a clear picture of where you are going. I-285 is a highway that’s a big circle, outlining Atlanta. If you’re not sure where you are heading, it feels like you are going in circles – literally. Choose what you want to achieve this month and pick a lane, any lane. Committing to it will help you arrive there with more ease.
If you want to enjoy the holidays like you never have before, make sure your activities are aligned with what is most important to you, weave in the people you want to spend time with and have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish-even if accomplishment means more naps during the holiday break.
What lane will you choose to drive you forward in creating a phenomenal New Year?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8853896
With so many unfortunate–and costly–data breaches making headlines today, it’s vital for businesses to safeguard their vital information with reliable security measures. By incorporating the following tips into your platform, you can better protect your company data for a more secure operation.
Create Secure Passwords
Be sure that you instruct your employees to create strong passwords. Security experts suggest that you “use an 8-12 character combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Also, be sure every employee changes his or her password at least once every three months.” (1) Employees should also refrain from using personal names or birthdays in their passwords.
Use Security Controls
Businesses can adopt any number of security controls. For instance, a firewall is a good line of defense for your data. Moreover, investing in check-writing software will “cut operating costs, reduce operational risk, and improve customer service.” Remember that all devices that connect with your network must have security controls in place to reduce the risk for breach.
Invest in a Security Audit
If you’re not a security expert, you should hire one to perform an audit of your business’s security. An expert can locate the gaps in your security and provide you with effective solutions for shoring them up. If you don’t have an IT expert on staff that can advise you about maintaining strong levels of security, you need to hire a consultant who can provide you with this essential information.
Employee Training
Many security breaches occur because employees are lax about practicing security procedures each and every time. It’s important for companies to train their employees about respecting security measures and upholding them at all times. Make sure that you create excellent policies and procedures to govern your employees about how to deal with data. It’s a good idea to have a training workshop to review security procedures with both new and existing staff members. Make sure your employees understand that they are a vital aspect of your data protection plan.
Encrypt Data
If your data is stolen–and this is common given the wide array of devices used to access your network–you still have protection if your data is encrypted. Make a habit of encrypting all company data stored on everything from laptops to mobile phones.
Back up Your Company Data
If you routinely back up your data, you ensure that it will be there should a virus come along and wipe out your information. Many businesses are now using the cloud platform to store their data securely. In the event that your business suffers a natural disaster or a computer is stolen, you’ll still have that backup data to rely on.
If you consistently follow these tips, you can more effectively protect your valuable company data. Never take your security for granted. Even large companies have been caught off guard by data breaches. By following these tips, you can ensure the integrity of your data and protect the reputation of your business. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8794070 Photo Source: http://pixabay.com/en/users/Picography-361976/
Highly publicized events like hacked celebrity photos, credit card data theft from major retailers, and confidential business data loss from large corporations have drawn into question the security of Cloud storage, especially for businesses.
From customer payment information to internal pricing policies to large commercial and government bids, the data that businesses keep is critical, and its loss could be devastating – just ask Sony.
And it’s not only large corporations or financial institutions that should be concerned. One study showed that over half of the small businesses surveyed had experienced data theft, and half of those had experienced it more than once.
The corresponding business disruption can also cost companies big money. Even a simple file that takes an employee an hour to recreate costs you money, and it can snowball from there. Worse still, most insurance policies don’t cover data loss of any kind. And even if you can be monetarily compensated, it won’t change the fact that your data has been stolen.
In a post earlier this year we discussed the different file storage options for businesses (an on-premise server, public or private Cloud storage, or hybrid solution). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. With on-site servers, your information is physically with you, under your direct observation and control. However, all it takes is a single bolt of lightning knocking out your server, or a cleaning lady clever enough to steal a password to simply walk away with your hardware. Viruses, stolen laptops, crashed hard drives, spilled coffee-all threats to your computing system also threaten your data.
The truth is, cloud computing is here to stay, so it is increasingly important to protect your data there. And guess what? With the right safeguards and protocols in place, it’s actually more secure.
Keeping your data secure in the cloud
Beyond 24/7/365 monitoring that should be the basis of any managed IT services relationship, here are five key ways that cloud storage provides greater security than on-site servers.
Controlled access: Know who accesses your data and when. Levels of access should be controlled and customizable by you, meaning that each employee should be given access only to the information that they need to get their work done. We also recommend two-factor authentication for an additional shield against cyber intruders.
Data encryption: The data you send to the Cloud should be encrypted during upload and encrypted again (and assigned a unique password) every time it’s opened on a device (smart phone, tablet, PC, Mac, etc.)
More robust firewalls and virus protection: Cloud storage facilities are constantly upgraded in response to the latest threats and to implement new technology. Besides malware detection and anti-virus software updates, make sure your IT service provider is able to detect and quickly remedy data breaches that may occur.
Sophisticated management and restoration capabilities: The right service provider can identify file changes between any two backup points on a system, and can see which files were created, modified or deleted at any point in time. This means your data can always be recovered to the latest version saved before it was destroyed by a virus or accidentally deleted. Off-site backups, built-in redundancies, fail-over protocols and fault-tolerant architecture that protects against power failures also prevent costly business disruptions.
Physical security: Cloud storage is located in highly secure data centers with restricted physical access, sophisticated burglar and fire alarms, backup generators and multiple redundancies and fail-overs. Many have multiple locations around the country, creating further redundancy in order to protect against a catastrophic loss in one location. On-premise servers rarely have this kind of fortress-like protection around them.
Is your data safe in the cloud?
Given the level of security measures, physical safeguards and redundancy, Cloud-based solutions can provide superior data protection if implemented and managed correctly. Our managed IT services professionals can help you assess and implement the best solution for your organization today-and develop a plan that makes good business sense for your future. Contact us to discuss your needs regarding data security issues and cloud storage options for businesses.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=E_Speidel
Photo Credit: Super Famous
This term is used quite a bit in cyber security, it is the use of multiple security principles and countermeasures to protect information and assets within a organization. I think this same thought can be used for parents, we can use multiple tiered counter measures to help secure our kids safety online. Let’s start at the perimeter of our home’s Internet connection, the Router that was provided by your Internet provider. One way to keep all the devices safe is to use a Kid friendly DNS service, such as Open DNS’s parental control offering, basically we setup the OpenDNS servers on our router, and the settings will be effective for every device in our network, such as computers, tablets, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii etc.
This service will also block adult Web sites without messy configuration changes. Let’s move further down the chain. For our computers, we definitely want to use a “smarter browser” such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox and add key free plugins that will block any inappropriate sites to our kids. If your home computer is a Mac or Windows, create a separate account for your kids, and enable parental controls on that account, this way you can limit the time they spend on the Internet, filter a list of words you do not want them to see, filter the sites that your kids can visit and a lot more. For personal devices such as iPads and android tablets, turn on restrictions on the devices so you can disable safari and YouTube, turn off app downloads, and turn off In-App purchases.
And incase you do need to install a particular app for your kids, install them via iTunes instead of on the device. On a android tablet or phone, I generally use a restricted profile (kitkat 4.4) or “Kid’s Shell – safe launcher” and create a separate account for my son, this way I can add specific apps that I want him to have access to and remove any that are not suited such as settings, notifications or any social media applications. Another really solid application that I rely on is called Mobcip, It is known as a parental software for all mobile devices as well as our computers. We create user profiles for our kids using their online interface and a management login that we use. We can monitor what apps are being used the most, view browsing history, set time limits, and custom filters, it is a really robust piece of software.
I hope these quick tips help you childproof your devices and computers, please check out other Cyber Security Tips for Parents
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vinny_Sinbad
For most companies, it is part of their protocol to back up important business documents. What is the sense of keeping two or more copies of the same file when it only adds to your costs?
Most computer experts would argue that a back up is done not only because its part of the standard procedure, but because it ensures the safety and integrity of your files. What if someone hacked your computer and modified its contents? How can you retrieve your original data without a backup? Also, there is a possibility of your computer being infected with a virus. Without a back up, you might not be able to continue your work, or worse, you’ll start again from scratch.
What to Back Up
It goes without saying that you should back up all the important files in the computer. Here are some examples.
* Documents, music, pictures and videos. Your documents in school or work, your favorite mp3s, your childhood memories stored in pictures, or your latest downloaded series: whatever personal file it is, keep a copy of it.
* Application settings and program installers. In case of a virus or a system crash, you can easily reinstall your frequently-used programs through these files.
* Bookmarks. If you have a list of websites that you visit daily, better back it up.
What Not to Back Up
* Not every file in your system needs to be backed up, such as the ones listed below.
* Windows operating system. If your operation system gets corrupted, you can reinstall it anyway. So why bother backing them up?
* System files. Likewise, you can get the system-related contents of your local drive upon reinstallation.
* Program files. You can also reinstall your programs so you don’t need to duplicate its folders in another place.
* Internet cache. Although these data may help you load web pages faster, you don’t need this. Your browser can just download these small files again once you access the webpage.
Where to Back Up
It is a matter of preference on where you want to back up your documents. There are three different areas which you can choose as your backup locations.
Local backup. This refers to another physical drive apart from your PC. Of course, the essence of backing up your files is that you will have a reserve copy of your data in case something bad happens in it. Therefore, creating a backup in the same location defeats the purpose of this process. As such, the most popular avenue for backups is through external drives or in a drive in another computer.
Online backup. During the dial-up days, backing up online is considered to be time consuming and expensive. Fortunately, with the level of internet speeds today, this has become a practical option for a lot of reasons. First, your file isn’t stored in a physical hardware, which can get corrupt. Also, an online backup removes the risk of losing your data from device theft. Thus, you don’t have to worry too much on finding your stolen computer as you have a backup online.
System imaging. You can also back up your system as well. This process is called system imaging. Unlike in a file backup where the backup location should be different from the actual file, in system imaging your computer creates a copy of your system in your drive. As such, you can completely restore your system in case it crashes. However, the only limitation is that you need to have a considerable amount of disk space in order to perform this process.
When to Back Up
You may not know when accidents will happen so it is better if you can back up your files daily. This is pretty much easy if you are using online backup, especially if you are configured to be on auto-sync with an online database. On the other hand, if you are using a local storage such as an external drive to store data, you may have a hard time sorting all your folders for new files. To make this process easier, you can just back up only your most important files on a regular basis. All the other files get another treatment; they can be backed up every month or so, depending on their size and importance.
As a saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure.” Don’t wait for your precious files to be damaged or deleted before you create a back up. And now that you’re well-equipped with the basics of backing up, you should start this process immediately.
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