Summer, Static, and Thunderstorms - Protecting the Availability of your Data:

Who would even think that part of computer security deals with static electricity and thunderstorms? Why do we care, from a security standpoint, if the humidity is too high, or if there are looming thunderstorms? Computer security has three distinct aspects that make up a well-rounded security posture - Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability, or what is commonly known as the C-I-A triad. Several articles so far have discussed how to keep your data safe from prying eyes and how to keep you from becoming victims of phishing and social engineering - things that mostly deal with confidentiality of your data. But part of what we consider to be very important in the computer security world is the idea of making sure that you can get to your data whenever you need to - the availability aspect of C-I-A.

This time I would like to talk about the environmental (and other) things that can threaten the availability of your data. More importantly, if something damages your computer and takes away immediate availability, are you sure the data itself wasn't damaged or destroyed? What's the plan for getting it back? After all, if your computer becomes damaged then you won't have access to your information when you need it. Even worse - unless you know the dangers and the ways to protect your data, you may lose it entirely. Even if you just have a small business at home, this can be devastating. How much damage would be done if you lost all of your business accounting records, client contact lists, and even saved email messages? Home users - would you care if several years of your income tax returns, digital photos, and even secret family recipes were suddenly lost forever?

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