New Backup Book…

By Guy Bunker | December 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment 

Guy Bunker

The new book is out… “Thinking of…Backing Up Data In Your Business? Ask the Smart Questions” has just been published by Smart Questions Limited.


Backup technology continues to move rapidly and unfortunately there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ answer. New technology and the option of using a cloud computing service just make the decision harder. The Smart Questions series aims to give you the right questions to ask – and an understanding as to why they are important. Going into a discussion with knowledge of what sort of solution you need will help you get the right solution – rather than the wrong one!

This book has been written for anyone who has data that needs to be protected. It is aimed at all those who know that the information they create and store on their computers is important, they have heard of backup but aren’t too sure what to do next. They have heard horror stories of lost data and failed backups and so have tended to use the ‘cross your fingers and hope that nothing goes wrong’ backup strategy in the past but now want something a little more reliable.

This book is really meant for you, if you have a smaller business – the small to medium size business, SMB. It’s designed to help get you started if you don’t have a backup solution and to bring you up to date when you need to review or replace the one you have.

The book isn’t prescriptive, but it will help you make the right decisions to get the right solution for your business.

“We had looked at backup, but the more we looked into it, the more it seemed to be a real minefield. Using the book we were able to approach our technical partner who quickly helped us find the right solution“.

Ian Jackson, Director, Compact Software.

The book’s available from all good book sellers… UK Orders… US Orders.

Guy Bunker

PS It would make a great present for the Holiday Season!

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?

By Guy Bunker | December 9, 2010 | 1 Comment 

Guy Bunker

… or “Who will watch the watchers?” In a recent case a malicious insider has admitted, not of stealing information – but of, in effect, adding to it. As an IT insider he had access to the systems which dealt with loyalty cards and set up a number of bogus accounts and then filled them with points… that he could later spend.

A great deal of time and effort goes into protecting systems at the endpoint or servers in the datacentre and companies now at least acknowledge the insider threat… but when it comes to applications there is still a naivety of “all our people are good”. Which brings us to who is watching the people who are supposed to be watching the systems? Unfortunately there is very little that can be done to stop the determined malicious insider – after all they have the access to the systems given to them and often they carry out tasks they are supposed to, given that they have the authorisation to do so. However, this is where good application design and usage policies can help. For a start, all administrators should have their own usernames and passwords – no sharing. There should also be good logs / audit trails, especially for functionality requiring additional privileges. Finally, there needs to be some means of reviewing the log files – either automatically or manually… and preferably not by one individual (otherwise they could become the malicious insider). Often just informing people that this functionality and policy is in place will deter the potential casual insider… and for those who are not deterred at least you now have some evidence.

Guy Bunker