Claritech Solutions Corp.

In this post I want to talk a little about our data.  By our data I mean any information that is unique to us: files we’ve created that can contain personal or important information that we may want to keep private and/or that we want to have backed up.  Examples include your email files, your photos, tax files, resume, letters, school papers, even your MP3 files.

One of the challenges of managing all of this data is backing it up.  If your hard drive dies for whatever reason, the data on that hard drive may be unrecoverable and all of that information (some of it priceless to us) may be forever lost.  There are many options for backing up data and I highly recommend checking out this IT Business article for more information on some free online services as well as inexpensive external hard drive solutions.  I personally use and recommend free Mozy for home and we resell Mozy Pro for business. Read the rest of this entry »

As I embrace the concept of cloud computing, I’ve been asking myself if it’s possible to live completely in the cloud.  To get a picture of what I’m talking about here, imagine doing all of your computer-related work at an Internet cafe or on a diskless netbook.  And I mean “all” of your work.

My revelation that living in the cloud could be a real possibility came to me about a month ago as I was walking into one of my clients with my laptop bag strapped over my shoulder.  As I had done almost every day for the previous several weeks, I put my laptop case on the floor under my desk and proceeded to log in to my client’s computer and carry on with my day.  My email, complete with contacts, tasks, notes, sent items, etc. is all totally accessible from the cloud through my hosted Exchange account.  I very seldom need my laptop at work any longer and I’ve started leaving it in my car to be used only in case of emergency (my security blanket).

There are a number of potential obstacles that must be overcome for a complete transition to livin’ in the cloud: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been a huge proponent of two-factor (something you know and something you have/are) authentication for several years now.  I understand that nothing is 100% secure, but I haven’t seen anything better come along. 

I’d like to see more services provide this type of authentication option.  PayPal has a feature called Security Key that allows you to add two-factor authentication to your PayPal account.  LogMeIn has a similar implementation for even their free version of the service.  They allow one-time passwords as well as the use of SecurID cards.

I’ve used PayPal’s Security Key with some success.  I only have two concerns with it:

1. It allows the user to bypass the security key for times when you don’t have your second factor available or the service isn’t working;
2. The service isn’t 100% reliable (at least not the cell phone key).

I applaud PayPal for introducing additional security to their service. A system as important and valuable as PayPal needs to be a leader in online security. 

Unfortunately, when it allows the user to bypass the security key, it effectively voids the two-factor component and just asks the user for one or more things he already knows, thereby making the first factor a little more complicated and the second factor unnecessary.  The reason they do it is because the service isn’t 100% reliable. 

Even so, I’d like PayPal to allow the user to decide whether they want the system to allow an override of the second factor.  In this way, I can force all authentication to go through my security mechanism and, if it isn’t available or not working, I’ll just have to wait until it is.  I think that is a reasonable compromise.