In the past, research institutions and government agencies stored data on tapes and hard drives — often without backing up the information. Today, when employees discover damage to these tapes and hard drives, they don’t assume that the data are lost forever — they simply call data-recovery expert John Bordynuik.

Take the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From the ’60s to the ’90s, MIT recorded its intellectual property onto seven- and nine-track reel-to-reel tapes. When MIT realized that they could no longer read any of these tapes — and that the data on the tapes couldn’t be found anywhere else — they tried to recover the data. They failed. It wasn’t until 2004, when MIT contacted Bordynuik, that the institution was able to recover the priceless data it had stored on 30,000 pounds of tapes.

Bordynuik — who has an IQ higher than Einstein’s — developed his own ovens to bake the tapes, ridding them of any stickiness. After that, he could read them without mangling them and transfer their contents to modern media. In addition to recovering data for MIT, Bordynuik has read tapes for Harvard University, the United Nations and the United States Army.

NASA contracted Bordynuik to recover “unreadable” earth science sensor data that had been recorded on reel-to-reel tapes from 1960 to 2000. NASA was so pleased with Bordynuik’s work that, in 2008, NASA sole-sourced his company, JBI Inc., which trades on the OTC under the stock symbol JBII. That means that NASA will award all of its future data-recovery work to JBI.

Bordynuik’s interested in other industries as well. His company is moving forward to commence operations on a process, Plastic2Oil, that converts waste plastic into a fuel similar to diesel. Pak-It, a JBI subsidiary, also produced a line of environmentally friendly home cleaning products that come in dissolvable packets. If Bordynuik’s work in data-recovery is any indication, we can trust in the success of his other projects.

JBI is currently applying for AMEX (American Stock Exchange). For additional information, visit http://www.plastic2oil.com, http://www.jbiglobal.com or http://www.johnbordynuik.com.

- Courtesy NUSA

Here’s a newsflash — information posted online isn’t private.

Think of your personal accounts as your own personal brand, and treat them as such. You truly ARE what you tweet (and post to facebook, and youtube).

It’s pretty common knowledge that computers at companies and government offices are constantly monitored. The software for doing it is cheap and easy to install, making monitoring easy and popular.

It’s understandable. Both businesses and the government need to get the most from their payroll dollars. And they need to protect themselves from lawsuits stemming from unwise remarks by an employee.

Just last week I read a story on the Huffington Post about 13 cases of being fired over Twitter posts. Clearly, there are still some folks who didn’t get the memo.

Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the world to know.

Revealing trade secrets is another act companies guard against. Employee blogs are tracked to prevent boss-slamming, sexual harassing of co-workers and the posting of discriminatory remarks.

Quoted in USA Today, the CEO of Smarsh, a seller of monitoring technology, says employees should assume they going to be watched. His company serves about 10,000 workplaces.

Lewis Maltby, author of the workplace rights book Can They Do That?, says a classic mistake is thinking that changing to your personal account gives you any privacy. It still goes through the company server.

But it doesn’t stop there. Employers have the technology readily available to track employees’ movements, listen in on conversations, and monitor their email.

A study by the American Management Association shows that 14 percent of employees admit to emailing confidential or proprietary information about the company, its people, products and services to outside parties. And 89 percent admitted to sending jokes, gossip, rumors or disparaging statements about the company to outsiders.

On the employer side, 1-in-10 say they’ve gone to court to fight lawsuits that were specifically triggered by employee e-mail. In addition, 2% of employers were ordered by courts or regulators to produce employee instant messages (IMs). That’s twice the amount reported in 2006.

“There are two trends driving the increase in monitoring,” says Maltby. “One is financial pressure. Everyone is trying to get leaner and meaner, and monitoring is one way to do it. The other reason is that it’s easier than ever. It used to be difficult and expensive to monitor employees, and now, it’s easy and cheap.”

Court records show that one company (Innovative Marketing) took in more than $160 billion worldwide last year for fake anti-virus programs. Ads for such “scareware” proliferate across the Internet.

Investigators say that Innovative Marketing was one of the biggest and most clever propagators of “scareware.” Scareware refers to programs that subject unsuspecting surfers to fake scans of their computers, and claim to find viruses — coincidentally, these viruses can only be removed by their software. The sticking point is that the viruses don’t exist — and the software you end up purchasing (at a pricetag averaging between $30 and $70) is at best useless, and at worst it will contain viruses that actually can infect your computer.

McAfee security software reports a 400% increase of scareware last year — with total infected computers totaling over 1 million.

Online promotions for fake anti-virus software increased tenfold in the first quarter of 2010, compared with mid-2008 figures, according to U.S. regulators.

Microsoft recently reported that its free Malicious Software Removal Tool cleaned scareware off of 7.8 million PCs in the last six months of 2009, vs. 5.3 million in the first six months.

The Federal Trade Commission says criminals create dummy ad agencies and place ads for big-name corporations without their permission. Anyone who clicked on the ad triggered a fake scan showing his or her PC to be infested with viruses. A sales pitch followed for a fake clean-up.

Innovative Marketing has reportedly closed its doors as of last year; however, the Interior Ministry of the Ukraine says it is possible that the company could still be operating under a different name from another location. While many of the scareware scams they were running appear to still be running, it is difficult to determine who is running the shell companies behind them.

Russian until leader Ruslan Pakhomov explains that while the Ministry has set up an anticybercrime unit last year, they are lacking the resources that they need to bring these cases to conviction.

Social networks are a growing Web destination–and a growing target for cybercriminals.

Facebook membership has grown to more than 400 million active users, a 229 percent jump over the previous year, while Twitter recently reported a 1,500 percent growth in new registered users during the course of a year.

But the risks have also grown. Webroot, a leading provider of Internet security software for the consumer, enterprise and SMB markets, has seen an increase in attacks on social networks in recent months, including a 23 percent increase in spam received on such sites in the past year.

A recent study by the company revealed how social network users still put their identities at risk:

• 28 percent of users report they’ve never changed their default privacy settings.
• 81 percent place no restrictions on who can see their recent activity.
• 53 percent aren’t sure who can see their profile.
• 33 percent of users use the same password to log on to multiple social networks.

What Can Users Do?
Here are a few guidelines for safer social networking:

Make personal information private–Protect yourself by updating privacy settings on your profile to restrict or omit access to any personal data. If you use services that allow you to share, be especially careful to not disclose your location to the wrong people.

Read between the lines–Familiarize yourself with the social networks’ privacy options to ensure you’re taking advantage of any enhanced security features.

Be exclusive–Only accept friend requests, e-mails and site links from people you know, and even then, be selective about what you open.

Protect the password–As a critical line of defense, it is more important than ever for members to choose their passwords wisely, make them different from one site to the next, and change each at regular intervals. Incorporating numbers, letters and special characters like !, $ and * into your password makes it stronger.

Suite security–Make sure your computer has an added layer of security to stop attacks before they happen. By scanning your machine for dormant viruses with a free scan and an Internet security suite, you can proactively protect your PC.

Webroot offers several comprehensive Internet security solutions for consumers, including AntiVirus with Spy Sweeper and Internet Security Essentials.

For more information, visit http://www.webroot.com.

A Herndon, Va., startup has developed a security system they say is hackproof. Called InZero, the small device works on an entirely different principle from other security systems.

In development since 2002, it has been tested by the military’s Defense Advanced Research Products agency as well as several companies that specialize in finding cracks in computer security. No one has broken it.

From its inception, InZero was designed to act like a second computer (in geekspeak, a “sandbox”) sitting between a vulnerable PC and the Internet.

Using the system when you are on the Web, it feels like you are using your own machine. But you are actually in InZero’s sandbox. You can send email and go anywhere on the Internet, even to sites known to harbor hackers and viruses.

The barrier between the sandbox and the computer prevents anything bad from getting to your machine. That’s because the operating system and memory in InZero’s sandbox are readers only. They can’t be changed by a virus, and hackers can’t commandeer the device.

CEO Louis Hughes says it’s like a patient with an unknown disease who is quarantined behind a glass wall. “Our device is the equivalent of that glass wall.”

The second-device idea has been used before to set up a buffer computer to interact with the internet. But when the machine gets infected, the user has to wipe it clean and reinstall the software.

What’s different about InZero’s approach is that it offers the protection without having to wipe it down if it gets infected.

One investor in the Ukraine ran a hacker contest. He offered a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to anyone able to penetrate the system. No one did.

Before InZero can be sold in the United States, the company has to prove to the government that its engineers, many of whom are in Kiev, haven’t built in a back door for spies. InZero hopes to market devices for PCs, servers and entire networks with prices beginning in the low hundreds.

Not protecting customer data can lead to fraud liabilities for small businesses and result in lost customer trust.

While protecting customer data may seem intimidating, it need not be. Financial institutions and card processor companies can help by offering solutions that are designed with the small-business owner in mind.

Heather Johnson, an independent cosmetic consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics, has a small business with a big customer list that includes friends and family members who trust her with their card information. Protecting that data poses some of the same challenges for her that big businesses face, but Johnson doesn’t have an information security department to help her.

Turning to her card processor, ProPay, for help, Johnson discovered that the right solution for her business was as simple as an encrypted handheld card reader that can be as mobile as she is, but is also secure. “I never even see customers’ credit card numbers,” Johnson said. “I don’t have to worry about losing receipts or my customers’ personal information. Even if the reader is stolen, the information is protected.” The system encrypts the data and, after authorization, deletes any prohibited data elements from the reader that criminals are looking for in order to make counterfeit cards.

For Johnson, the secure reader was also an opportunity to talk to her customers about the steps she was taking to protect their information. “It opens up a conversation about security and makes me look more professional. They trust me.”

Visa has been working with small businesses and has invested heavily in advanced fraud-fighting technologies. Its approach has worked, with fraud rates decreasing by more than two-thirds in the past two decades. It is a good information source for small businesses looking to improve data security.

Visa offers these tips to help small-business owners prevent data loss:

Be sure you are using secure payment software that does not store sensitive card data and adheres to industry security standards. A list of compliant vendors is available at http://www.pcisecuritystandards.org.

Be sure that your systems do not inadvertently store sensitive cardholder information. Check with your merchant bank or processor to determine what data you may need to retain, and what you must not retain under any circumstances.

Follow the payment card industry’s data security requirements and consider working with a security vendor to complete a vulnerability scan of your systems and a questionnaire. Many merchant banks and processors can provide referrals.

For more tips and information, visit http://www.visa.com/cisp.

The old joke goes “death and taxes are the only things you can count on 100 percent.” Add a new item to that list – disk and tape drive failure.

A survey by The Diffusion Group found that the overall average rate of failure is 100 percent for disk and tape drives – like the hard drive in your PC and the tape drives people still use to backup data. That means if your drive hasn’t failed yet, it will.

The good news is there are ways to organize and protect data. All it takes is a little planning and the commitment to backing up your hard drive regularly. Here are some tips for organizing, storing and protecting your precious data:

Backup, backup, backup
There tend to be two kinds of computer users – those who regularly backup their data and those who plan to; but never do. Every piece of data you put on your hard drive – whether it’s music, video or documents – should be backed up, according to computer expert Richard Doherty, research director for Envisioneering. Many backup systems, however, won’t be able to handle the sheer size of many contemporary video and music files. Often, people resort to multiple backup devices to handle multiple large files. That divergence of data often makes finding all your photos, family videos or music next to impossible.

A better solution, Doherty says, is saving everything to a single external storage device, like the new network attached storage device from LG Electronics (model N2B1DD2). Designed to protect and store multimedia entertainment files, the device uses a proven system of multiple hard drives used for sharing and replicating data to prevent possible damage or loss. With up to two Terabytes of fast hard-drive storage, the system automatically backs up and restores files for added security in the event of hardware failure.

Doherty says the latest NAS technology included in this LG model also includes a Blu-ray DVD re-writer and playback feature for additional backup or file sharing options. That’s very handy for extended families, students with files on campus and home and both at-home and small businesses. It backs up and restores with either Macs or Windows operating systems. What’s more, it’s has a design friendly look so it blends easily into your home environment. Log on to http://www.LGusa.com to learn more.

Get organized
You know you stored the video of junior’s piano recital somewhere on your hard drive and you’re ready to upload it to your family’s personal home page so Grandma and all the relatives across the country can see it. But where did you put it on the hard drive? With the volume of data the average PC user places on the hard drive today it’s not surprising that things get lost. We forget what we named a file or where we stored it on the hard drive.

Getting and staying organized on your PC means being able to retrieve data whenever you want it quickly and easily. Follow these tips:

Separate document files and program files. If your document files are stored with program files, you run the risk of deleting data when you install or upgrade programs. With real time back up and fast transfer speeds, the N2B1DD2 is ideal for the on-demand entertainment needs of most consumers. This model utilizes intelligent, selective mirroring technology which allows users to back up only selected folders. This saves time and maximizes storage options.

Another way to know what’s in a folder without opening it is to use a thumbnail view and place a picture or clip art on the folder that will clue you as to what’s in it. For example, a folder that holds family photos might have an image of a family member on it. The folder where you store downloaded music might have a musical note. The image acts as a visual clue to help you realize what’s in a folder without having to open it.

It’s a great idea to use the Documents folder in the Windows operating system to automatically categorize on your PC. But keep completed items separated from things you’re still working on. Use the Documents folder for projects that are in the works and store completed work in a different location, like a special Archive folder, an external hard drive or even to a CD-R disk.

Enjoying your content
Once you have all your movies, videos and photos stored in one convenient place, you can enjoy watching all that content on an advanced LCD monitor like the M237WD from LG Electronics. Stylishly designed, the monitor features a 16:9 aspect ratio, digital TV tuner, full high definition 1080 pixel resolution and multi-screen capability.

It’s perfect for anyone who does a lot of gaming or who wants to use their PC screen to view high definition video or watch TV. Combining your network attached storage device with a 1080p LCD monitor provides the complete multimedia package.

- Courtesy of ARA

As the economy slowly recovers, small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are expected to loosen some existing restraints on travel.

However, when employees travel to destinations such as trade shows and conferences, their computer data may travel with them, making it vulnerable to theft and loss. Fortunately, new technology is helping to ensure that when your data leaves the office, it doesn’t get lost or mugged on the way. To stay safe, consider these six technologies that can help keep your digital files secure, wherever your employees take them:

Automatic backup
Hard drives do fail from time to time. Safeguarding against the inevitable ensures that precious time and money won’t be spent re-creating lost information after a crash. Some of the most recent operating systems offer the capability to set up a file backup system.

Encryption
Protect against data loss or outright theft. One option developed with feedback from SMBs, Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 7 Professional, has an Encrypting File System (EFS) that provides a powerful encryption technology for files and folders to protect confidential information such as financial or customer data.

Virtual private networks
Ensure employee access to company files and systems remotely without the threat of security breaches. Well-known providers, including McAfee and Microsoft, regularly update their software with security patches to protect against new hacker threats.

Anti-virus and anti-spyware protection
Block spyware before it infiltrates and slows down employee computers. Windows Defender, a free feature in some of the more recent versions of Microsoft Windows, helps stop spyware before it infiltrates a computer.

Storing data in the “cloud”
The buzz phrase “cloud computing” commonly refers to the practice of “renting” software applications over the Internet. While the details may be more complex, SMBs that choose to use a cloud-based solution–such as a business productivity online suite (BPOS) that combines e-mail, instant messaging and collaboration tools–can purchase a subscription to a set of online applications that streamline communication and come with comprehensive security built in. By storing data in the cloud and not on laptops, SMBs need not be as concerned if a device or machine goes missing.

Password protection for login and individual files
These enable employees to secure their entire computer, or implement a more robust security policy by assigning passwords to individual files.

These technologies can offer you peace of mind and the security you need to effectively grow your business, now and in the future.

Identity theft affected 10 million Americans last year, an increase of 22 percent from the previous year, according to Javelin Strategy and Research. Those numbers make identity theft one of the nation’s fastest growing crimes.

Although it’s important to protect your identity throughout the year, tax season is one time that identity thieves are out in full force, looking to take advantage of Americans not safeguarding their personal information. And even as the IRS believes that online tax filing will increase 20 percent in 2010, Americans still collect paperwork during the year that contains personal information that can be the equivalent to gold for identity thieves.

“Seasoned identity thieves are on the prowl during tax season and looking for unassuming victims,” says Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “Whether filing online or through regular mail, everyone still needs to be aware of safe filing practices and the procedures for protecting against identity theft this time of year.”

One important step to protect confidential information is to properly store and destroy all paper documents containing sensitive information that you no longer need. Shredding is the single most effective way to ensure that this type of paperwork is destroyed into unidentifiable pieces.

By using a cross-cut shredder such as Fellowes PS-79Ci, paper documents are nearly impossible to piece back together. The PS-79Ci also features Fellowes’ Jam Proof technology, which calculates the amount of paper being fed into the shredder and stops a paper jam before it occurs.

“Knowing and understanding the right procedures to protect yourself during tax season is the most important step to safeguarding confidential information this time of year,” says Nancy Heaton, senior global marketing manager at Fellowes, Inc., the leading shredder manufacturer. “Shredding all sensitive paperwork you no longer need is an easy and effective way to ensure that your personal information remains just that.”

In addition to shredding, the following tax filing tips will help ensure that your confidential information is protected:

Filing taxes online:

• Choose a tax filing service you are familiar with. The IRS provides a list of approved companies at www.irs.gov/efile.
• Make sure personal computers are protected with updated firewall and secure software systems, which contain antivirus and anti-spyware programs.
• If you are storing important tax-related documents on your computer, change your passwords frequently between December and April.
• Ensure that every Web site you are using during tax filing is encrypted to protect personal information when transmitted.
• Shred any backup documents once you’ve filed your taxes online.

Filing taxes by mail:

• Regularly check the mailbox for W-2 forms and other documents containing sensitive information that arrive by mail. If you don’t receive these documents by Feb. 15, contact the IRS for assistance at (800) 829-1040 as missing forms may be an indication that an identity thief went through your mail.
• Send completed tax returns from a locked mailbox or the post office. If mailing from home, do not put the mailbox flag up. This only alerts identity thieves that there may be an outgoing check in the mail.
• Make sure tax forms, backup documents and enclosed checks are not visible from the outside. Try wrapping your forms in an extra sheet of paper to disguise the contents of the envelope.
• Keep tax paperwork and other documents in a safe and accessible place, such as a fireproof box in your home.

For additional identity theft prevention tips and information on how long to keep financial records, visit www.fellowes.com or check with your tax professional.

From shopping to working to banking, Americans are doing it all online. Consumers need their private information to be safe, but at the same time, they want the speed and convenience of instant transactions, all without giving it a second thought.

Online safekeeping doesn’t just happen. Information security specialists are in the shadows, ensuring consumer and business data security worldwide, and providing the skills needed to track down information in criminal investigations.

Because nearly everyone is at risk from a cyber security threat, professionals in information systems security are bucking unemployment trends. Students interested in information security careers can study at DeVry University, which offers a specialized track providing the skills to help design security system procedures, standards, protocols and policies.

“I have been in the IT industry for about eight years, working on information security-related projects for most of my career,” says Najmus Qazi, a DeVry University alumnus from Chicago working in the telecommunications industry. “Most recently, companies have been paying more attention to their information security due to the simple fact that there are a lot of bad guys with ingenious ways of stealing data. The constant change and evolution of my role has made it incredibly exciting.”

With new methods of “capturing” volumes of personal information online, it is no wonder that the security of personal and corporate information has become a hot button issue … and a true career opportunity. There is a real and practical need for specialists who develop and deploy systems to make sure proprietary or private information is protected.

“Despite the recession, IT specialists holding certifications in information security have actually been in demand,” says John Giancola, dean of Devry University’s College of Engineering and Information Sciences. “Because we have become so mobile and unwired, our personal data is accessible in so many ways – from cell phones to laptop computers – so we need to make sure our personal information is not compromised. Information security behind the scenes keeps us safe.”

The field of information security is the first line of defense in preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure and destruction of data for both businesses and individuals. But for individuals, the extra prevention helps protect them against identity theft.

The importance of this field came into sharp focus earlier in 2009 when President Obama created a cyber security cabinet-level position. This “Cyber Czar” will be responsible for integrating and coordinating all government protections of cyberspace and will lead the U.S response to any hacker attack on U.S. networks.

Five careers under the information security umbrella are helping keep the virtual world safe from would-be hackers and viruses:

• Network systems and data communications analysts are projected to be the fastest growing occupation, with projections of more than 50 percent growth through 2016. They analyze, test and evaluate network systems.

• Information systems security specialists help organizations prepare for, react to and recover from security threats. These experts develop and implement security procedures, protocol and policies.

• Disaster recovery agents work to ensure a company’s data systems and networks are recoverable. They often perform and analyze disaster simulations to ensure prompt restoration of services.

• IT managers play an important role in implementing technology in their organizations. They oversee network security and direct Internet operations.

• Computer forensics specialists perform the vital task of investigating suspected fraud and criminal cases. They recover deleted, encrypted or damaged digital files and often provide expert testimony in criminal court cases.

“After spending years as an automotive service advisor, I went back to school to find a new career that offered solid potential for the future,” says Marc Brown, a computer information systems student with a specialization in computer forensics at the North Brunswick, N.J. campus of DeVry University. “Studying computer forensics has exceeded all my expectations. Every day, I look forward to all my classes and instructors. It’s fun when friends recognize the value of what I do from the nightly news or crimes shows.”

DeVry University offers associate, bachelor and graduate degree programs in the information security field at campuses across the nation as well as through online classes. By enrolling in an accelerated program and attending classes year round, undergraduate students are able to earn a bachelor’s degree in as few as three years. Learn more at www.devry.edu.

– Courtesy of ARA