THE WEBSITE PROMOTER

Sharing important and significant information to help you run your business and keep you safe, informed and vigilant online.

A Gmail Account Was Hacked

Published in Digital Inspiration by the victim and covered by PC Mag Security Watch,
Dec 2009

A hacker broke into a Gmail account "for the fun it" and compromised the victim's personal data

"When Amit Agarwal realized that someone had successfully taken control of his Google accounts, including GMail, he got that sinking feeling that his private life and his business were compromised. But he got them back and has some lessons for the rest of us from his experience.

It was clear even beforehand that someone was trying to hack his account, because he would get "password assistance" e-mails from Google indicating that someone had requested a password reset for his ID. When this happens, Google sends a message to a second e-mail address with a link to confirm the reset. It says that if you didn't initiate the request, just ignore the message. It's probably just a mistake (yeah, sure)." [passage taken from PC Mag Security Watch, Dec. 2009]

Agarwal's plight was quickly fixed (within 3 hours) due to his diligence and preparedness. You too should be prepared and here is a summary of his recommendations to protect and reinstate your Gmail account should it be necessary:

• Associate a phone number with your Gmail account. You can easily do this by adding a phone number to your email signature. (SETTINGS --> GENERAL Tab --> Signature)
• Maintain a second separate email address and set it as your secondary email address for your existing Gmail account. If you have a business Gmail account, this is done under Domain Settings (you must have administrator privileges). If PGR Creations set up your business account, it is likely we used our support address as the secondary email address.
• Use a complex password. Simple word passwords are easy to guess.
• Use a different password for Gmail than you use for your other email account.
• Keep a back up copy of your emails. If you use Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook, you already have a back up copy on your computer.
• If you receive a password assistance notice from Google that was not the result of your activity, take that as a warning. If you receive a second notification, that may be indicative of unauthorized access being attempted. Notify Google. Change your password before it is too late.

What If Your Hard Drive Crashed Right Now, Will You Be Protected?

Backing up your data is always a good idea. You never know when your hard drive might crash. Where you back it up to requires some thoughtful consideration.

Those of you who may have lost data from a hard drive crash or computer disaster know only too well the merits of a good backup system. But then, all of us know that we should back up our data. It just that . . . [fill in excuse here].

The Easiest, Cheapest Backup Ever!
Well now your excuses won't hold up. One of the easiest, cheapest (pronounced FREE) ways to back up your data is to sign up for an online account with one of the major backup companies and let them back up yourdata automatically.

One such reputable, award-winning company is Mozy.com. A free for-home-use account will provide you with up to 2GB of data storage or, you can get unlimited storage for $4.95 per month.

Visit mozy.com

What makes Mozy so easy is that once you have downloaded and installed their software and identified the file categories you want to have backed up, they take care of the rest. Your files are backed up automatically, every day. They take care of it. Plain and simple.

PROS: Off-site storage, set and forget; in case of fire your data is safely stored elsewhere. Mozy is a very reputable company.
CONS: Must be online to use.

Another "Set and Forget" Solution
If you are not comfortable storing your data online or if you want another layer of protection, you can try this solution if you have an external drive or another networked computer.

SyncBackSE is a very flexible programs for backing up or synchronizing data files between two locations (your computer and your backup site). You identify the files you want to back up, set up a schedule of when to back up and then sit back and rest assured that your files are being backed up on schedule. This is the program used by PGR Creations.

Try SyncBackSE 

If you need help setting up this program to back up your files, call or email us. We can assist you. In most cases, it will take only 15-20 minutes.

PROS: Set and forget. Scheduling takes care of the backups.
CONS: A little more complicated to set up; in case of fire or other local disaster, your original and backup copies might both be destroyed.

RECOMMENDATION: Going with a service like Mozy may be the better choice if you are looking for simplicity and ease of use.

Is there a topic you would like to us cover in a future issue? Let us know!

Best regards,

C.M. Rivera
PGR Creations
www.pgrcreations.com