Posting vacation plans on Twitter is probably a bad idea

Posted by Caitlin on June 26th, 2009

Israel Hyman is an avid Twitter user. He uses the microblogging service to promote his website, IzzyVideo.com, and to connect with his customers on a more personal level. So he thought nothing of sharing a few details about his recent trip to Kansas City. When he and his wife returned to their home in Arizona, they discovered it had been burgled while they were away. There's no evidence that Hyman's tweets led directly to the burglary. But I'm guessing that he regrets those tweets either way, and probably won't be posting the details of his next vacation.

Tech Digest points out that Hyman also displayed a link to his Flickr page, which contained photos of his computers, bicycle and flat screen television, all of which were geo-tagged with his home address. In the context of this story, Hyman's oversharing looks pretty foolish. But it's hardly uncommon to reveal such detail about ourselves on various social networking sites.

Tech Digest also offers five tips on how to enjoy Twitter and other social networking sites without making yourself quite so vulnerable:

1. Protect your updates. Twitter provides an option that allows only approved followers to view your tweets. You can access this option on the "Account" page, under "Settings." Simply check the box at the bottom of this page. If you choose not to protect your updates, anyone can find your tweets using the search feature, even if they are not following you.
2. Watch your words. Once you've revealed sensitive personal information on Twitter or Facebook, there's no taking it back. Even if you delete the post, that information will still be accessible to those who are willing to put in a certain amount of effort.
3. Don't geo-tag everything. Most new cell phones and some cameras offer an option to automatically geo-tag your photos. Check and see whether your pictures include location data. If so, remove that information before uploading your images to Facebook, Twitpic or Flickr.
4. Keep your personal away from your business. Tech Digest suggests that Hyman's biggest mistake was mixing his personal life and his business life in one account. On the one hand, he's sharing personal information, but on the other, he's promoting himself to strangers and acquiring as many followers as he can.
5. Don't click on every single link that comes through. Clicking on every hyperlinked URL on Twitter is a great way to accidentally wind up with malware on your computer.

That last tip deserves particular emphasis. Twitter's 140 character limit requires most links to be shortened using TinyURL or another hyperlink shortener. This prevents users from verifying that a link is legitimate before clicking. It would be quite simple to lure readers with the promise of an interesting article or some salacious gossip, alongside a link to malware.

And the personal information carelessly strewn across Twitter and other social networking sites isn't only an invitation to burglars. It's also an invitation to cybercriminals. It's easier and less risky for a thief to steal your identity than your television. And a few tidbits of sensitive data may be all an identity thief needs to crack your email password, or find some other opportunity to take advantage of you. Once he's opened a fraudulent account in your name, he can buy his own television and send you the bill.

It is certainly possible to use Twitter and other social networking websites without putting yourself at risk. Just consider the potential consequences before exposing your own personal information, or clicking mystery links. And consider investing in extra protection against these potential consequences.

McAfee to partner with Mozy to offer online backup services

Posted by Joe on June 10th, 2009

McAfee, which received a five star rating in our comparison of Internet security software providers, is partnering with Mozy, a five star provider from our online backup service comparison, to offer online backup services.

According to McAfee officials, the service will cost $50 to $60 per month for unlimited data backup and will be targeted at consumers. The service is expected to be available to McAfee customers sometime before the end of 2009.

We recommend that most consumers simply sign up for the Mozy service directly versus waiting for the McAfee product to be released. NextAdvisor.com visitors receive a special 15% discount on an annual plan which means that an annual subscription of Mozy costs just $46.29 when you use the discount promo code "NEXT" during the online checkout process.

That being said, we do applaud McAfee for taking steps to increase awareness of the importance of data backup.

You can learn more about Mozy and other online back up services by visiting our reviews and comparison of online backup.

Does Carbonite's unlimited backup storage include data on other drives?

Posted by Caitlin on April 20th, 2009

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q: Does Carbonite's unlimited backup storage include data on other drives (D, E, etc., which are either internal or external) in addition to the C drive?

A: By default, Carbonite backs up everything in your Documents and Settings folder, as well as all of your music. The default backup does not include programs, system files, temporary files, videos, or individual files greater than 4GB. You can manually add any of these, from any internal hard drive, to your Carbonite backup. Carbonite does not guarantee support for external hard drives, and we have heard conflicting reports as to whether or not it is possible to successfully back up an external hard drive with Carbonite.

Mozy, another of the online backup services reviewed on NextAdvisor.com, does back up external hard drives.

To learn more about Carbonite, Mozy, and other online backup services, see our reviews and comparison chart.

Will Mozy back up my external hard drive?

Posted by Caitlin on April 13th, 2009

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q: Will Mozy, or any of the online backup offerings, allow me to back up my external drive along with my desktop drive? Thanks.

A: Yes, they will. Mozy can backup any drive that Windows recognizes as "fixed." Operating systems consider hard drives "fixed," regardless of whether they are internal or external. DVD/CD-ROMs, media cards and some thumb or flash drives are not considered "fixed," and cannot be backed up.

You can tell if your drive is "fixed" by doing the following: Click Start Menu, then click My Computer. "Fixed" drives appear under Hard Disk Drives, while unfixed drives appear under Devices with Removable Storage. If you do not see these sections, click View > Arrange Icons by > Show in Groups. If your external drive is not "fixed," first copy the data onto one of your "fixed" drives, then select the data for back up.

To learn more about Mozy or other online backup services, see our reviews and comparison chart.

HP Upline to close in March; Research alternatives on NextAdvisor.com

Posted by Joe on February 26th, 2009

Hewlett Packard announced in an email to subscribers today that the company's online backup service, HP Upline, will be discontinued effective March 31, 2009. The service will stopped backing-up subscriber data this morning at 8am PST.

In a very pro-consumer move, HP will be providing full refunds to all subscribers in an amount equal to the fees they paid while they were an active paid member of the service.

We would strongly suggest that former Upline subscribers invest their refunds in a new online backup service such as Carbonite or Mozy. You can compare online backup services at NextAdvisor.com.

We never included HP Upline in our comparison of online backup services because of the various issues that plagued the service during it's short lifespan such as an extended downtime last April that left subscribers without file backups for days.

Below is the full text of the email sent to subscribers today:

Thank you for your interest in HP Upline.

HP continually evaluates product lines and has decided to discontinue the HP Upline service on March 31, 2009.

HP will no longer be backing up your files to the HP Upline servers as of Feb 26, 2009 at 8 am Pacific time. HP will keep the file restore feature of the Upline service operational through March 31, 2009 Pacific time in order for you to download any files you have backed up to Upline.

If you have a paid subscription to HP Upline, you will be refunded the full amount of the fees you paid for the service. That refund will be credited to the credit card account or PayPal account that you used to subscribe to the Upline service. If you do not receive the refund prior to March 31, 2009, please contact our customer service team at https://www.upline.com/support/email.aspx.

HP looks forward to offering you additional technology products and services in the future.

Thank you.

HP Upline team

Google "G Drive" online backup service rumored to be launching soon

Posted by Joe on January 27th, 2009

Several online sources are reporting the imminent release of a new online file storage service from Google. The service, dubbed "G Drive" after the common naming system of other Google products like Gmail and G Docs, will presumably allow users to store large amounts of data online for free.

So, how will Google's G Drive stack up against services like other top rated online backup services Carbonite or Mozy? Obviously, we won't know until the product actually materializes. However, our impression is that this service will be more appropriate for remote storage for files that you may need to access from multiple location or computers rather than for scheduled backups of all your important files.

Google has not confirmed any pending release date for the G Drive (or even the existence of the G Drive) at this point. However, we will continue to follow related news and developments in an effort to keep our readers informed about key changes in the online backup space.

In the meantime, you can read our reviews and comparison of online backup services at NextAdvisor.com.

15% Mozy discount promo code for NextAdvisor.com readers

Posted by Joe on January 27th, 2009

Mozy, one of our top rated online backup services, has just increased the exclusive discount for NextAdvisor.com readers to 15%. Mozy had previously provided a 10% to all users that signed up for Mozy through NextAdvisor.com.

This new 15% discount on Mozy's online backup service is available by clicking on the Mozy "Go to Site" link on NextAdvisor.com and entering the promo code NEXT when prompted during the check out process.

You can read our full review of Mozy and other online backup services on NextAdvisor.com.

Will online backup services also backup a virus or spyware?

Posted by Joe on January 8th, 2009

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q:  My question about on-line backup is, if you somehow get a virus, or spyware, is this passed along w/ the regular backups and can they contaminate previous entries that make backups worthless?

A: This is an excellent question and one that we have seen come up very frequently.  The short answer is- no, you will not contaminate previous backups if your computer is attacked by a virus or spyware.  Here is the long answer:

Online backup services typically only backup files and program data and not the associated programs.  For example, online backup services like Carbonite and Mozy will backup your Microsoft Office documents and settings, but not the actual Microsoft programs.  So, spyware and virus programs will not be backed up by most online backup services.

It is possible that a document that you backup could include a virus, but viruses in documents are typically only activated when the file is opened.  This is where having an Internet security software program, including anti-virus protection, on your computer is important.  Most security software programs will scan files as you open them and alert you to any potential threats.

If your computer does become contaminated by a virus, we recommend following these steps provided by Len from Carbonite's customer support team:

When recovering from a virus infection, my recommendation would be to reinstall your operating system and applications, and in particular a good anti-virus program. Be sure to get the latest virus definition files from the manufacturer of the anti-virus program. (This is usually included as part of your subscription, and the latest definition files can be downloaded via the Internet.) After reinstalling your operating system and anti-virus program, restore your backup, but be careful not to open your restored documents until after scanning them for viruses.

You can learn more about online backup services by visiting our comparison and reviews of online backup services.

Mozy launches detailed knowledge base to help answer user questions

Posted by Joe on December 2nd, 2008

Mozy has just launched an extensive "knowledge base", which is a combination of FAQs, error code descriptions and resolutions, and online versions of how to guides.

While the new knowledge base is primarily targeted towards existing Mozy subscribers, it could also be a great resource for those consumers that have specific questions about the Mozy service that they would like to have answered before they buy.

The Mozy knowledge can be accessed by visiting http://www.support.mozy.com.

You can learn more about Mozy and other online back services by visiting the NextAdvisor.com guide to online backup services.

Mozy 10% discount promotional from July 2008

Posted by Joe on August 1st, 2008

NextAdvisor.com readers can receive a special 10% discount on one or two year subscriptions of Mozy's online backup service in August. To take advantage of the limited time discount simply click on this link to sign up for Mozy and enter the promotional code AUGUST when prompted during the sign-up process.

You can learn more by reading our full review of Mozy or by viewing our reviews and comparison of online backup services.