Today, businesses and government agencies should prepare for all of these looming disasters. Each should have an individual plan for disaster recovery. In today’s information-driven world, further disasters can result from power outages and network failures. There should still be time for every business to adjust and respond to risks. In any possible event, there should be uninterrupted and continuous access to either personal or corporate data.

There should be a system for disaster preparedness. For any company, it is a well-known fact that its most important assets are its people. Unquestionably, for these people, their most important asset is their family. Is there a company or agency plan on how to move its people, including their families, if the need arises? Another consideration is to make a communication plan that is timely, clear and honest.

Every company and agency has a host of information that is vital to the uninterrupted course of activities. There should be a data back-up plan which should be verified and validated, and situated out of harm’s way. It should also be accessible to the recovery location. To ensure better data privacy, cloud service is now available for the storage of key data.

There is no certainty as to how long catastrophic events could last. Some may last for days, others for weeks, and still others for months. There have to be options if the facilities, network, technology and people could not be available. It is also very vital to think about those other businesses associated with “parent” companies. Their preparedness has a direct effect on any company or agency because jointly, they form a chain or network. There is more impact if not only one, everybody else involved is well-prepared.

This is far from accurate though. While the government certainly does, and this is no secret, record things about the American people, it is certainly only for our safety. Ever since the 9/11 bombings, our country has stepped up security three-fold. This is most noticeable in the airports; the conduit for the brutal attacks. Where you used to go through security with pretty much just a visual check and a quick metal detector, you now spend quite a bit of time. It is not uncommon to see a person having to take off coat, shoes, and belt to be searched and patted down, to make sure they are not a threat. To most though, this is just an annoyance and means they have to wake up even earlier for their flight lest they miss it due to a convoluted security check.

Annoying as they might be, these time consuming practices help our country stay safe every day. The Patriot Act is a bill enacted by the government that essentially gives them free reign to look over any communications and intercept and listen to them, whether it be public or private. While most Americans support the government, especially if the government is just trying to look out for the people’s safety, the Patriot Act raised some eyebrows. People were worried that it would be the coming of Big Brother and the government would watch them do everything.

This is hardly true, but it is important to be knowledgeable and enjoy some privacy. Start with your Internet connection. Use an anonymous proxy server and surf the web anonymously and safely. Your private proxy will make you untraceable to any interlopers wishing to follow your online data trail.