As were my initial thoughts, you’re probably wondering right now if computer users in these countries were unable to use Mozy Backup previously. Besides, you may also think, the general idea with an online service is that it should be available to anybody who has internet access, right? There’s a simple explanation for this.

Mozy online backup was actually already accessible before via the Mozy.com URL. In fact, about 25 percent of the total number of Mozy subscribers are based from outside of North America. However, there are two drawbacks for users residing in European countries:

• If you were using the paid version, you would be billed in US dollars, and not in pounds (UK) or Euros (Ireland); and

• With the data stored in the US, your files are not covered by the European data privacy laws, which differ from US data retention and privacy rules.

With UK and Ireland subscribers now billed in their local currencies, and in being able to comply with EU data regulations, EMC hopes to attract more subscribers to their online backup services. The Mozy data centers will be located in Cork, Ireland. Mozy Home is priced at £4.99 (about $7.72) per month for unlimited data storage and backup, while Mozy Pro for small businesses costs £3.99 per computer per month, plus an additional 50 pence per gigabyte.

Even business backup firms based in these countries, welcomed Mozy’s entry into the local industry, saying that it would help raise awareness of online backup in the area.

With Mozy online backup going global, isn’t it high time you used online storage solutions too? For about $50 per year, you’d be buying yourself peace of mind and convenience. Check out our Mozy Home review and Carbonite review to find out which service fits your backup and storage needs best.

Trademark Carbonite

Carbonite was the first to offer unlimited backup service at a fixed, monthly rate in 2006, but it was only last February 2010 when Carbonite Pro was launched. Keeping things hassle-free has always been one of the trademarks of the Carbonite service and it is no less evident in this latest product. The online backup service specialist claims that Carbonite Pro features a simple and easy-to-use dashboard, especially designed with the end user in mind – your average office employee and not some geeky system administrator which most business don’t have.

A Step-up from Carbonite

One main difference between the original Carbonite service used mostly by individual consumers and the recently-launched Carbonite Pro is the number of PCs you can backup. Whereas before a Carbonite subscriber can enjoy unlimited backup on one PC, Carbonite Pro lets the user backup on an unlimited number of PCs. That means no per computer or server “licensing” or set up fees, and one account to manage regardless of whether you have 10 or 100 computers to backup in your office.

Pricing Scheme

Carbonite Pro uses a tier-based pricing system based on the amount of storage space allocation. Starting at $10 for 20GB of backed up data, the monthly fee gradually increases to $25 for up to 49GB, $50 for up to 99GB, $75 for up to 149GB, $100 for up to 199GB, $150 for up to 299GB, and finally, $250 for up to 499GB of back up data space. Carbonite even makes it easier for a company to decide on signing up for the service because it gives a free-one month subscription, to give business a chance to evaluate their storage needs first.

Why It’s Best for Businesses

Here are some of the easy-to-use features of Carbonite Pro that make it an ideal option for small to medium-sized businesses. First, it comes with a dashboard that allows the user to effortlessly monitor how much data has been or is being backed up, and how much each individual workstation is using. Secondly, it’s easy to add users – whether they are part of your office-based staff or the sales team on field. Just put in the new user’s name and Carbonite will automatically send him a pre-authorized installation link. Easy does it.

Worried about an employee leaving the company suddenly? No issues here either. Carbonite makes it simple as well to freeze a user’s account so that he can no longer access any files for downloading. Plus, it’s also easy to just reassign the files to another user.

So, is Carbonite Pro everything that you’ve always in a cost-effective business backup solution? There’s only one way to find out. Avail of the one month free trial and see for yourself.

In the Berkeley case, hackers stole personal information of at least 160,000 individuals including those of students and alumni of the prestigious university. For the one in Virginia, over 8 million patient records and 35 million prescription records were hacked from the computers of the state’s Department of Health Professions.

The Virginia database thief was even bold enough to inform state officials that he deleted the stolen database but was keeping a copy protected with his own password. What’s more, he proceeded to demand a $10 million ransom in exchange for the said password.

It wasn’t quite clear if the State of Virginia, in fact, did not have any data backup on hand for such important health records, or even if the information was worth paying the $10 million demanded. One thing is quite clear, though. As the global financial crisis drags on, we can expect more of these attacks. Perhaps some desperate computer geniuses who have lost their jobs end up as cyber criminals, attacking systems with loose security.

Now, as institutions begin to strengthen their defenses, some of these crooks can turn to less profitable but more vulnerable prey – ordinary people like us. All it takes is one wrong download, and your system can be open to malicious eyes. You wouldn’t want those eyes prying into your computer, would you? Or worse, grabbing your files and holding them for a high price.

One solution for this would to avoid keeping your data all in one place. Remember that you would need to safeguard your data not only from fraudsters but also from hard drive crashes, viruses, and even natural and man-made disasters. Online backup solutions like Carbonite can provide a safe haven for your files plus the added benefit of being easily accessible from virtually anywhere.

There are numerous portable backup solutions like pen drives, optical disks, or even external hard disks. However, you’ll have to carry these devices around all the time. With an online backup solution, you don’t have to bring anything with you. Plus, you’ll only have to pay a very small amount in exchange for the assurance that your files are protected all the time. The service I use, Carbonite Backup, costs only less than $5/month. Now that’s way below any ransom any hacker would ask from you.