Todd Kwon-Do

Computer guys are a funny lot. Where most of the rest of the world places a high value on a simple and elegant solution, computer people tend to go the other way; they like their world complicated. Computer “geeks” get off on high-tech, super complicated equipment. They want to see racks full of blinking lights and interconnected cables. The bigger and more complicated something is, the better they like it.

So, it should be no surprise that most computer consultants and internal technical staff tend to focus their thoughts on the complicated problems. It’s fun to be a hero and figure out a difficult problem before anyone else does. Unfortunately, that often leaves the easiest problems unresolved. In fact, it is a rare occasion that an IT person will sit down and put some serious thought to how to handle something like a virus attack, or a deleted hard drive. These problems seem run of the mill and hardly worth the time of someone that just de-jiggered the central matrix oscillator (IT people also like to make things sound complicated).

I guess my point is this, there is a reason that people say, “the devil is in the details”. I have been spending a fair amount of time recently writing disaster recovery plans. What I have noticed is that everyone wants to know what the plan is for a fire, terrorist attack, or some other major issue. What I know for an absolute fact is that 90% of the “emergencies” our clients have had over the last 10 years have been a product of some mundane, every day issue.

2) If you accidentally delete important files on your computer, what is the very first thing you should do?

3) What should you do for your computer network if the power in your building goes out?

Most people think they know the answer to these questions. Unfortunately, unless some thought has been given to educating the users of the network, everyone's answer could be a little different. For example, some people would call their IT guys if they had a virus. Another person might click SHUTDOWN, and still others might try running a virus scan. On the surface, those all seem like decent ideas, but in the end none of those solutions deals with the immediate risk to the company.

In case you were wondering, the number one concern if you have a virus is that it will infect other systems in the network. The priority has to be containment; you don't want the virus to spread past your PC. Trying to shut down, scan the system, or waiting for IT, gives the virus time to execute code that can damage the network. So, if you think you have a virus, the first step is to disconnect your network cable. Once that is done, the virus is contained and your IT guys have the time to decide how best to handle the situation.

So, my advice is simple. If you are a business owner or an IT manager, I suggest that you make a cheat sheet with the 3-5 steps that you want your employees to take for the following: