How Safe is your Data?

Greetings,

This is not another post about backups!

Most of what I do these days is troubleshooting and repairing computer systems. Most of the problems come from malware and spyware download from the web.

My business has always grown via word of mouth. I usually get a referral or two every week and I am able to convert most of the prospects that fit my model of what a good client is**, to clients.

Just recently I started to work with a new referral on converting his existing Quickbooks to a newer version of Quickbooks. The conversion required me to make a backup of the existing file and convert it to an version that was a few years old, before I could convert it to the newest Quickbooks 2006 version. Since I had the older version load on one of my systems at home, I asked the client I could take the data home and convert it and then update his system. He didn't have a problem with that at all.

I think that he should have had a problem with it. At the time I made this request, I had only met him 3 times and had spent no more than two hours with him. He let me take his entire accounting file off site and out of his control.

Another factor, I met him through a company who competes with him on several of his product lines. What if I shared the info I now had with the competitor? I had his entire client list, his cost structure as well as his profit and loss statements. Everything a competitor would love to have.

I thought about this the other day when a friend metioned that he had to take his computer into the shop for a simple repair. He is a lawyer with gigabytes of confidential data on his computer. What guarantees does he have that the techs at the computer shop won't take a look at his documents. What liability does he have if someone reads something confidential and share it with someone else.

I don't have an answer for this one yet, any suggestions?

Marc

** I have certain criteria that new clients have to meet before I work with them. I have a little routine that I do, to see how people react to me and to my way of doing business. If at any point I get a bad feeling about the prospect, I find a way to discourage them from wanting me to help them. I have had numerous discussions with people about my methods of choosing who to work with. It comes down to this, I want to work with people I like, who value my services and who pay me promptly.