Keeping Your Digital Files Safe

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Here at Central Comm, we take backups quite seriously. We know how important it is for us to keep our data available and safe. Our customers, however, can be quite another thing altogether. Some of them do not take it seriously enough, and will call us in a complete panic if they have lost a phone or a tablet, or God forbid have had a computer crash. Do YOU have an automatick back up for all of your electronic devices, including smart phones and tablets?

We have found some great information, which you may already know, but it never hurts to see it again. The source is www.weownourbank.com

 

Take control of your computer: Perhaps the most important step in digital organization is taking control of your computer. File important e-statements in labeled folders in your My Documents folder. It reduces desktop clutter, adds a level of security if your system crashes, and makes searching easier should you need to find a document later.

Consider paying for safety: It is important to remember that you get what you pay for. Many free storage sites are not secure for confidential documents, while many of the pay sites are safe and secure. Research and make sure you understand the security limitations of your selected vendor.

Set a rule for creating passwords: You don’t need to remember 75 passwords if you have one rule set for generating them. For example, use your initials, a favorite number, and the first two to three letters of the service name. Using the same password repeatedly makes it easier for identity thieves to hack into your accounts. And creating multiple passwords with no rule makes it difficult to remember them all.

Archive files: Archive what you don’t want or need. Create an “Archives” folder in your My Documents Folder. You can place items there you don’t necessarily need, but aren’t comfortable deleting right away.

• Back up data: While Cloud-based storage is convenient, it’s still important for consumers to maintain a backup of their digital data. Depending on the size and number of files, this could be as simple as an external hard drive stored in a secure location.

• Keep a paper trail: In addition to having this information digitally, safely store paper versions of critical documents that are hard to replace, such as family health records and major home improvements, or are tax- or business-related.”

One more thing to remember, it’s great to back up your files, but do you know how to restore the data that has been backed up? Can you pick and choose which files to restore or do you have to restore everything? Those are good questions to have the answers to BEFORE you need them.

Happy Holidays

Central Communications Staff

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