Colbatech Solutions, LLC

First off, always always install an Antivirus / Antispyware solution on your computer. People have different opinions about what works best. They all have advantages and disadvantes to them. Do a little research and pick one. Some malware will always be able to get through. That is why it is especially important you heed the rest of this post.

Second, be aware of what you are downloading off the internet, which web pages you are visiting, and what you are plugging into your computer. Only download files from trusted sites. Sites like download.com, sourceforge.net and filehippo.com have a reputation for containing safe, malware free downloads. Remember that just visiting a website can infect your computer with something bad. This is because websites run scripts and sometimes these scripts do malicious things. There are a few good ways to protect yourself from these. If you are using Firefox you download an extension called 'noscript'. 'Noscript' blocks all scripts from running unless manually authorized by the computer user. However, this can be a bit difficult to get the hang of for more novice computer users. Another thing you can do is use Google Chrome. Google Chrome has what is called a sandbox built into it. Anything malicious is contained within the sandbox. After Google Chrome is closed, it's like the bad script never ran. Software such as sandboxie can also be used with Internet Explorer to the same effect. Lastly, Windows Vista and 7 allow for Internet Explorer to run in Protected Mode. Protected Mode prevents bad-doers from accessing more privileged parts of your operating systems functionality. Finally don't ever insert a Floppy, CD, DVD, USB, SD drive, etc into your computer unless you know what's been written on it or trust the person giving it to you. USB drives can especially be dangerous because plugging one in to an infected computer can infect the key, which in turn can effect other computers it is plugged into.

If you follow this advice and somehow still end up getting a virus or piece of spyware, it's generally best to wipe the computer clean and restore from backup. See our post about a building a comprehensive backup solution to learn more about different backup strategies.

When creating a backup plan for your organization’s computer data, there are three tiers of safety nets that must be put into place.

1) On-site backup for easy accessibility: The on-site backup is the key for quick access to lost data. These backups should be done incrementally so that multiple versions of the same file can be retrieved from recent days in the past. Take the following example:

On a Wednesday afternoon, an important PowerPoint presentation becomes a jumble of garbage after your computer is hit by a power surge. The corrupted file is not noticed until Thursday (after Wednesday night’s backup is performed). If the backup is designed so that each new copy erases the backup from the previous day, there is no way to restore to a working version of that file. However, if you also have Tuesday’s version of that file, you can go back and restore that version. You might have to redo any changes that were made Wednesday morning, but at least you don’t have to start all over again.

2) Off-site backup: An on-site backup is not going to do much good if, god-forbid, your office is in the radius of a devastating natural disaster. The idea here is to geographically diversify your important information so that a work can resume at an alternate site. This can be performed by a few different methods. The easiest method, which is usually a good fit for those with less data, is a nightly upload to an on-line backup company’s server. Another method for companies with a lot of data is to manually rotate through tapes or hard drives so that one set is always on-site while another is in a secure vault at an alternate location.

3) Images vs Individual file backups: An image is a snapshot in time of your all of the data on a particular hard drive. Images are there to get your operating system, files, programs (everything) running exactly as they were with minimal effort. Individual file backups are there when you need tweezers instead of pliers. When individual files are deleted or become corrupt, file level backups let you pick and choose what needs to be restored on a more granular level. These two methods combined allow for maximum restoration speed.