Imagine you have a computer or a system that you rely on for important tasks, like storing important files or running your business. Now, what would result if something unexpected happened and that computer or system suddenly stopped working?

It seems that phishing scams are always on the rise and ever-changing, but the "gift card" scams have been a mainstay for years.  This video will explain how to spot such phishing scams before it's too late.

I won't name names, but I have been shocked at some people I know who have fallen for these scams, including seasoned technical types.  It's best to always be on the lookout and and to be suspicious if you want to avoid these clever phishing scams.

Nobody likes a "gotcha" in any walk of life, and that certainly holds true in IT.  No one can argue that it pays to be prepared.  This is why we buy insurance, financial advice, medical checkups etc., etc.  

If there ever was an industry that perpetually promises “New and Improved,” it’s the IT industry. I can’t think of another high-ticket item that loses value and performance as quickly as a computer does. Selling a two-year-old computer is nothing like selling a two-year-old car, for example. You get my point.

Moore’s Law (which states that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles every two years) has given us computing power which grows exponentially over time (which is partially why computers don’t hold their value, by the way). I think we all naturally assumed that because of this never-ending improvement, computers would eventually become nearly trouble-free.

Gerald is a long-time owner of a substantial construction business, and like most successful business owners, he trusts his own wits and intuition in making business decisions. His keen mind is ultimately what got him to success, so why not keep betting on a winner? But Gerald also knows his limitations.

Last year his intuition was acting up a bit, and he was nagged by a persistent fear of losing valuable data. He finally decided to reach out to me to see if Promethius could audit his backup and disaster-recovery plan. Were there chinks in the armor? We would find out.

NOTE: I want to give you a bit of a warning before I start this article. My writing style is generally up-beat, jovial and fairly casual. Don’t let this style mask the fact that today’s topic is very serious. Please know that this article is written in a spirit of urgency and importance.

O.K. Now on to the article…

Virtual Desktops, sometimes referred to as “Cloud Desktops,” are the next major improvement vastly approaching the computer network landscape (actually, this new technology is already in production today – we use it here at Promethius). We’ve been in business for over sixteen years, and we think this technology will be the biggest “game changer” we have ever seen.

I gained a deep understanding of “disaster recovery” in the best situation imaginable. I was a programmer/analyst for Northern Trust Bank, and for two years worked diligently on our “Y2K” disaster preparedness plan. To say the least, banks cannot afford to lose their data. The fear surrounding Y2K gave me an almost unlimited budget and access to endless resources.

Like so many other organizations, we passed through Y2K without a single glitch. Rather anti-climactic, but I learned a ton about disaster recovery.