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The article discusses how to set up a data center with protected backup and restoration. There are numerous technologies and thousands of products available for backing up data. The place to begin is with an assessment of which data and systems need to be protected and what the cost would be if they were to go down. Computer user must look at two metrics, the recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO). RTO will determine how long a particular machine or service can be down and RPO will describe how current the restored data must be and how often a backup must be done.

Advises on how to protect computers from threats of intrusion from coworkers or family members. Mention of CMOS passwords for security purposes; Importance of keeping the computer's case closed by using a locking mechanism; Tip on how to update an older computer without spending too much money. INSET: SLOW THE PRINTER FLOW.

The Office of Personal Management in the US sounds like an innocuous sort of agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the ways on how to prevent computer fraud caused by handheld electronics. According to Fabi Gower, vice president of information systems at health care recruiting firm Martin, various handheld gadgets could lead to network and data corruption. To avoid this type of problem, he offers tips on how to protect data from handheld gadget leaks. Among the tips are development of comprehensive computer security policy, prevent the unauthorized access to the network, and monitor user access.

The article discusses how messaging administrators backup and restore messages, and provides information for new technologies used. Increasingly, experts have begun to focus instead on changing their mail systems' underlying storage platform from server-based, direct-attached storage (DAS) to some type of storage-area network that offers more options for faster, disk-based e-mail backups and restores. Looking for new technologies, messaging administrators are moving away from DAS to networked storage that offers snapshot technology closely integrated with Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Corp.'s Volume Shadow Copy Service.

The article provides steps on how to ensure efficient remote storage backups with branch offices. First, work with branch employees to schedule back-ups for times when they will cause the least disruption to operations. Make a complete backup every week, with incremental backups on successive days. Keep the past four weeks' worth of backups, then recycle the oldest of the daily media into the next rotation. Second, make sure someone is in charge at the branch. Finally, make sure to review branch's own rotation cycles to make sure on keeping older backups.

The article provides best practices and latest techniques on backing up the user's desktops and laptops. In formulating a desktop backup strategy, the first step is deciding what to back up. The most convenient approach in terms of planning and restoring is to simply back up all of the files. One solution to backing up data is consolidation. It is a relatively simple task to force data into one folder, especially if the user is standardized on one set of application. The best repository for user's desktop or laptop backups is a reasonable amount of space in his centralized storage.

The article discusses how new technologies helped to backup groupware. Computing workgroups face unique challenges when it comes to system backups. These groups use collaboration software that allows them to update and pass along files. Local area networks designed around workgroups provide electronic sharing of required data. These workgroups can operate on their own or within an enterprise and are typically outside the data center. Without adequate backups, some companies might not be in compliance with applicable regulations because their workgroup backup data is not protected.

The article reports on a survey of data backup and presents pie charts depicting results of the research. According to the study, top executives at their companies know how critical backup technology is and spend accordingly. Seventy percent of the respondents reported only an occasional hiccup in their backup procedures. Fifty-four percent said that less than half of their information technology staffers are well knowledgeable in their department's backup procedures, and about one-third said that their companies' backup procedures are not documented.

The article provides information on SecureSphere Database Security Gateway (DSG) which shields data from malicious acts and mistakes. SecureSphere DSG has the capability to protect systems from a wide variety of unwarranted activity by limiting the types of queries that can be run, the times they can be run and the client programs that can run them. Planning is key when installing SecureSphere DSG. SecureSphere DSG can filter queries in Learning, Static and Dynamic. The SecureSphere Database Security is considered a very important part of a complete database security model.

The article reports that Commerce Bank NA has detected and stopped the hacking attempt on its database in the U.S. in October 2007. The bank discovered that a hacker had breached a database with about 3,000 customer records and had accessed 20 of them. Upon detection, law enforcement agencies have been immediately notified about the breach. Consequently, the bank has contacted all customers who have been affected to provide them with free credit monitoring services for two years. The way the hacking has been executed was reported by the bank.

The article presents the ways on how to prevent computer fraud. Experts suggest 6 ways to prevent data leaks. These include getting control on the sensitive and proprietary data, keeping track of what's flowing over the networks, monitoring user access to critical data and detecting unauthorized access to high-risk data, and centralizing intellectual property data. Details related to the 6 ways on how to stop computer threats are discussed. Information on DuPont Corp.'s experience about data leaks is included.

The article focuses on the how to convey the importance of information security to the employees. According to chief information security officer Ed Zeitler, giving message to the employees about information security must be short and direct to the point so that employees could absorb the information well. Communicate them in various techniques and type of medium because they have different ways of learning and doing things. In addition, managers must have frequent face-to-face communication with younger employees. Included are tips on how to effectively communicate information security to workers.

The article focuses on the installation of client software that allows electronic mail to synchronize with the upper management's new smart phones in the U.S. According to the security managers, such policy is not necessary since the state's information technology (IT) Department has never been all that mobile. These smart phones demand client-side software that hooks into Microsoft Outlook. It has been stressed that security problem is difficult to fix because the upper management has a vested interest. However, this could be avoided by setting requirements for devices that satisfies security concerns.

The article discusses how to protect data and software of pocket computers (PDAs). Almost all of the PDAs' data and software resides in volatile memory that provides some data protection. Proper handheld data management starts by avoiding the tendency to keep single copies of important data on a handheld. In addition, the best practice is to do daily backups to two memory cards, one of which resides in the devices during normal operation and can also hold applications and data. The other should be kept separate, in case the device is lost or stolen.

The article provides information on a guide that will back up the data safely and keep off from malfunction of the systems. It will protect data from systems failure, human error or natural disaster. This guide will back up data in six key areas of the information technology infrastructure. It includes the tried-and-true techniques and the latest technologies for backup the information. Because of this manual most information technology executives are comfortable and happy with their data backup.

The article presents unexpected experiences of the executives of information technology on their data that has been erased and did not save due to systems failure, human error or natural disaster. One is when the database administrators are performing to upgrade and backup files, a typical storm blew in that made the data erased. Next, the regular technician was fired when he unintentionally erased all the files of his supervisor. The other, a certain company lost its two years' worth of data at one site because of a former technician's mistake.

The article focuses on the reported poor protection of sensitive data in the offices of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The report claims that an important work remains to be done in areas of configuration, patch, and inventory management in its computer units. It has been found that certain procedures followed for patching laptops are lacking. It likewise demanded the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to fix the configuration vulnerabilities and recommended procedures for better configuration management. In a written response dated June 14, 2006, a DHS official claims that the chief information officer in the OIG has set a plan for addressing the issues.

The article reports on the computer hackers' ability of covering security holes. Computer hackers used to create security problems and turn out as computer security researchers and experts. They also compete with each other to create credibility by finding security holes and tell the companies what they are about. However, vendors do not like the idea at all as security holes make them look bad. Computer hackers are not fully believed by companies since they are still hackers by heart. However, companies do not have much choice also but to trust them when it comes to covering security holes.

The article offers news briefs related to computer security in the United States. Injection attacks on several organization's databases were reported by SecureWorks Inc. while a program on virus naming was launched by the antivirus industry for easy identification of malicious codes. Rich Mogull of Gartner Inc. talks about savings on security spending to security technology effective organizations.

The article reports on the privacy risks of the creation of statewide voter databases as mandated for all states by the federal Help America Vote Act in the U.S. Under the Help America Vote Act, all states create centralized, statewide voter registration databases, but it did not mandate any protections for that data. People are required to provide personal information, such as date and place of birth and current residence when people register to vote in the country. According to Freddie Oakley, clerk recorder for Yolo County, California, she fears that a loss of local control could diminish the security of voter data.

The article reports that Oracle Corp. has released 14 software patches that address security vulnerabilities in its databases, application server software and other products in the U.S. As part of the quarterly software update, it also released a tool designed to ferret out commonly used default passwords that could be misused by hackers. According to Darius Wiles, manager of security alerts at Oracle, earlier versions of Oracle databases included well-known default passwords and usernames. It also features the Oracle10g databases that have been upgraded from its previous versions.

The article discusses data security policies. Information technology managers who attended the annual InfoSec World conference has agreed to the keys of corporation information security policies. These objectives are focus, simplicity, and enforceability. Policies are mandatory. Companies must be clear on their security policies. Workers should understand them well and documents must be readily accessible. They must be enforced easily. Also, not to be overlooked are the exceptions. A formal process should be developed for this area.

Our security manager takes a look at the agency's informational assets and realizes the application layer is the weak link. 'Asset-centric security' seems to be becoming a familiar phrase in the security world. However, identifying assets can be complicated. For many organizations, assets are pieces of information stored in numerous places: on local hard drives, on file servers, within databases, in various physical and geographical locations, as well as in transit. The information could include customer or client data, protected health data, proprietary information or financial data, among other things. Thinking through the layers of security in our environment, I realized that the weakest link in the chain is at the application layer, which is where I see database security fitting in. Much attention has been given to auditing firewall rules, turning off unneeded services on servers and patching operating systems, internetwork operating systems and various applications, such as Internet Explorer. But it seems that not much attention has been given to database security and auditing. I know for a fact that no attention has been paid to it here, and I need to do something about that, though I don't have much experience in the subject.

This article reports that Oracle Corp.'s effort to portray itself as a vendor of unbreakable technology received a setback when a British bug hunter disclosed that he had found 34 security vulnerabilities in the database vendor's products in the U.S. The flaws include several that could allow malicious attackers to gain complete administrative control of compromised database servers. They include buffer overflows, SQL injection issues, and a whole range of other minor issues. Some of the flaws can be exploited without a user ID and password, while others require them.

Reviews the database management software DeepSight Threat Management System 5.0 from Symantec Corp.