Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, and tell 'em what you told 'em: A fundamental axiom for presenters and basic high school essays. So back it up x 3.

I sure hope Apple users are going through a round of making sure their computer and iDevice backups are in place and up to date. Even though I have a regular daily and weekly backup schedule, over the past few days I've been making sure my backups worked before upgrading my MacBook Pro to the Yosemite version of Mac OS X. And I'm about to update my iPhone and iPad to IOS 8.1. I think. The backups are in place--I'm just waiting a few days to make sure the collective experience is smooth. My devices are still on IOS 7 dot something since I don't mind lagging the field for awhile; however, I am looking forward to using iMessage with text messages from non-iPhone people. More to the point, the speed of typing on a keyboard...

But this isn't meant to be a big ad for Apple.

It's about backing up your data. And securing it by storing a copy offsite--ideally, you're encrypting data that is sensitive and important to you. We have advice, of course. And secure storage devices (stay tuned--there's another on the way).

Whether it's about having backups handy in case an upgrade goes awry or protecting yourself from the next cyberattack or breach, establishing good backup habits is a must.