While the invention of the computer and digitized information has certainly made our lives less complicated, it has also presented certain challenges. For instance, what do you do to keep your data safe? Virtually anyone with an Internet connection is able to locate documents on another’s computer, so you should take the required steps to make sure that anything they can access has no value. This means that you need to protect any document containing sensitive information.

If you have a home or office computer you will want to ensure that no one can access it by locking it whenever you are away from your desk and ensuring that anyone trying to access your computer needs a password to do so. To set a password on your computer find your Control Panel and select User Accounts, then click the create password button. If you are on a network you may require your system administrator to sign in.

If you have MS Office 2007 it is simple to password protect any document you have by doing the following:

On the top-left of your document click the Office Button Click Prepare option and then select Encrypt Document from the list Enter a password and Save

Older versions of MS Office also have password protection available, the instructions are just different:

With your document open, go to File | Save As At the top of the Save As screen select Tools | General Options You will be presented with a Save Options screen Enter a password to open / password to modify or both and click OK You will be prompted to re-enter your password(s), click OK when done Save the file

To make sure that you can always access your important files you may need to write down your password somewhere safe, otherwise you may not be able to access a file when you need to.

Finally you need to ensure that should your hard drive malfunction or get wiped clean by a power surge that you don’t lose all the files that you have worked so hard to protect. Backing up your files gives you a second chance at the files you need if something happens to your computer.

There are several different ways to back-up your files:

1) On CD-ROM: Make use of your CD-ROM drive by using it to make a copy of your files on a regular basis. Keep the CD safe, somewhere no one can find it and away from your computer should there be a fire. You will have to set up a reminder for yourself to copy the files regularly.

2) USB Flash Drive: You can quickly copy files to compact flash drive and keep it with you or in a safe place. Remember to regularly back-up your files so that they are as recent as possible if something should happen, and password protect the drive in case you should lose it

3) Off Site Storage: this is a handy way to keep copies of your files somewhere safe and secure. Simply copy them to a secure folder and be on your way. Most companies will charge a minimal monthly fee for this service, which is worth it knowing that your files will never get lost in a fire or flood should something happen at home or the office.

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