Closing out 2010
2010 is about to become a memory. This is a great time to take stock of your IT situation. Rather than simply a reminder to backup (Please, of course, do that!), this is a suggestion to consider a worst case scenario in your IT world.
I recently watched a fascinating talk in which a hacker discussed what took place after his pride and joy computer was stolen out of his apartment. He was able to track it over the course of the next two years as it crossed the country and eventually wound up in the hands of someone in Las Vegas. All that time his data traveled along with the computer. He is a very sophisticated user and his methods are beyond what most people would be able or willing to do, but the warning should be clear; if your computer or iPad or iPhone was stolen what would your level of pain be?
Let's take a few moments and pretend it's actually happened to your computer or phone. Was your machine backed up? Was your only backup attached to the computer? If so, it likely went with the machine. How accessible is the data on the machine?