Set Up A Password Manager With This Step-By-Step Guide

by can_admin | Aug 22, 2016 | Uncategorized

These days, EVERYTHING needs a password.  Not only are you starting to need more of them, but they’re getting more specific in what they require when you set them….it seems you need an uppercase, a lowercase, a number, a special character, and you need to change it every 60 days!  We’ve talked in the past about the importance of having a good password management system- whether that be a program, or a manual logbook- but there’s still a vast majority of our clients that use the same password for everything whenever possible (yes, I’m looking at YOU!).

One of our favorite password management programs is LastPass, a FREE program and website that users can easily use to manage their passwords and keep them in one, secure place.  Lifehacker.com recently posted a very detailed beginner’s guide to setting up and using LastPass (http://lifehacker.com/the-beginners-guide-to-setting-up-lastpass-1785424440), and we think it’s worth a good read- especially if you’ve been putting this off for a while.  While you’re at it, make sure you’ve set up two-step verification wherever possible (http://canyonero.org/2015/06/24/have-you-enabled-2-step-authentication-on-all-your-accounts/)

If this seems too simplistic for your needs, or you want your passwords synced between multiple devices (which is a paid feature for LastPass)….I’ve personally been using the DataVault app on my computer and my smartphone, so I can securely keep all of my information where I need it when I need it.  It’s not free, but it offers more features and customizations than LastPass, all while being among the most secure of password protection programs.  If you need something a little more than what LastPass offers, check it out.

Bottom line- don’t let cost or complicated use be the reason you don’t have a password management system set up.  Let today be the last time you forget a password, or don’t have one when you need it.

What Hard Drive Should You Get…& Why It Matters!

by can_admin | Aug 4, 2016 | Uncategorized

We see it all too often: a seemingly perfect hard drive all of a sudden fails one day and loses all of your pictures, documents, and music.  Hard drive failures after no physical damage to the device are surprisingly common- technology isn’t perfect- but you want to take every measure you can to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.  Doing a little homework and research before you purchase your next external backup, or upgrade the hard drive in your computer could just save you from trouble down the road.

Backblaze.com, a popular low-cost online backup provider, has recently published the information of the drive failures they saw through 2014.  While they go through the details in pretty specific detail (showing model numbers and capacity for each kind), it’s important to see that there are CLEARLY drives with a much higher failure rate than others.  Look at the details in their article here: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/best-hard-drive-q4-2014/

There’s a lot of information in that article, and much of it is probably beyond most of our clients care or concern.  The key points to drive home are that HGST drives (while usually slightly more expensive), seem to have a much lower failure rate than Seagate drives…and Seagate drives seem to be the most common.  If you’re in the market for a new drive, refer to that article and make the best choice based on your budget and storage needs….and see what the failure rate was on it was before you buy something new.  After seeing several business clients lose critical data over the years, Canyonero has been reviewing this data for a long time, and will continue to use non-biased results to make sure we get the best performing drives for our clients.