As last week’s QuickTip pointed out, many Americans are worried about information security and the safety of their online data. For good reason, too,  news that broke last Wednesday indicates: a Russian crime ring has stockpiled the largest known collection of stolen credentials — 1.2 billion username and password combinations and 542 million unique email addresses.

No technology trend has been more ubiquitous lately than online security (or the lack thereof). With major corporations, social media sites, old cell phones, and even Internet browsers getting hacked left and right, Facebook announcing ramped-up plans to sell user information, and the separation between private and public life continuing to erode, can the public be blamed for losing trust in businesses and their ability to properly handle the data we hold sacrosanct?

A Gallup poll conducted in June delivered revealing results that nearly all of us can relate to (particularly the part about how, “In an increasingly insecure world, consumers need all the data security friends they can get”):

• 37% of the public reported that their trust in the companies they regularly do business with had “decreased a little” or “a lot” over the past year.

Over the last 12 months, the four largest mobile carriers in the US — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint — have all introduced slick new campaigns allowing users to affordably upgrade their cell phones far more often than the old industry standard of every two years.

When you think of disaster preparedness, what comes to mind first? Boarding up in advance of a hurricane? Hunkering down in the face of a tornado? Cleaning up after a flash flood? Thawing out after a killer blizzard?

Depending on what part of the country you live in, natural disasters can mean vastly different things.

While all small businesses require solid IT support and smooth-running systems to achieve success, certain industries have bigger needs that require a more integrative relationship with their technology partner. Those in the financial, health care, legal, and other industries have seen their computer, network, and data requirements significantly enhanced over the last few years.

Finally, some good news on the cybersecurity front: after almost nine months of CryptoLocker infecting over 200,000 systems and extracting astronomical ransom payments from affected users, the cybercriminal ring responsible for the virus was broken up in early June.

As of June 1st, hurricane season was officially upon us here in the East. For those that live far from us here the East Coast, remember that you’re not out of harm’s way, either — multiple tornados have affected the Midwest so far this spring, while wildfires in California and mudslides in Colorado have also claimed homes, lives, and the blood, sweat, and tears of our treasured first responders.

The IT security world reeled last week from the revelation that open-source encryption solution TrueCrypt is apparently no longer secure and will no longer be maintained. TrueCrypt was considered the gold standard in free, open-source encryption — NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden even raved about the software during a so-called CryptoParty in Hawaii in 2012 — so the abrupt announcement was particularly shocking.

April 15th might be the most stressful day of the year for business owners racing to get their taxes files — and certainly for accountants racing to make hundreds or even thousands of clients happy.

Once the madness of Tax Day subsides, however, most of us put the thought of W-2s and 1099s and deductible expenses far out of sight and even farther out of mind.

Because of the Heartbleed vulnerability that rocked the online world last week, security should be top of mind for anyone who uses a computer. But changing your passwords for ALL online portals — the extent of the Heartbleed bug isn’t entirely known yet, and any password used on numerous sites could have been compromised — shouldn’t be the only critical action you undertake.