Many of the people I meet in the Braintree District are either very worried about their online security or don't even realise the huge risks they are taking by not having any. Have a think about whether any of the following questions apply to you...

• Are you worried about whether your children are safe when they're surfing online?
• Not sure if your personal details are easily accessible to anyone with prying eyes?
• Are you fed up of receiving nonstop junk and spam emails?
• Do you think that a Firewall is a book by Andy McNab or Spam is a tin of processed meat?

www.getnetwise.org may have all the information you need.

GetNetWise is a public service website that has he one single aim of putting families and individuals 'just one click away' from a good understanding of the many security risks that threaten their safe and continued use of the internet. I think that it is a very useful free to access website that contains a lot of comprehensive and very informative sections on keeping the family safe online and how to keep your computers safe from hackers and viruses. Wait - it gets better! There's also a video tutorial section that gives you step by step instructions to complete on may helpful asks to improve your internet security.

I hope that this information will help - I am always telling people to save their data, photos and anything else important that they will not be able to recover once it's lost. Well over 90% of home computers in the world are never backed up - which is really frightening realisation for me!! There are now several cost effective methods for you to back up your files to a remote server - once a day, once a week, once a month - whatever you wish and think will be suitable! Most of the online backup companies charge per GB (GigaByte) required and it means that, if in the worse case scenario, you lose your computer through a burglar / fire / cup of tea (believe me, the small cup of tea can be a menace sometimes!) all of your files and precious family photos, etc. will be saved for you.

Contact Colne Digital, the IT specialists today. They offer many packages depending on the amount of backup space required. Simply, a programme sits harmlessly on your computer and makes regular backups of all those important files for you. If it's piece of mind you're desperately looking for, checkout Colne Digital's feature on thebestof Braintree and give them a call!

Gareth Talbot
www.thebestof.co.uk/braintree
braintree@thebestof.co.uk
07738 073043