There are many reasons why you should consider backing up your data, but the first one that comes to mind is peace of mind. There are so many things that can happen to data, like:

• Your laptop being stolen
• Your house being broken into
• Your company or office being broken into
• Your laptop hard drive crashing

There are lots of other reasons, but if you have not backed up your electronic data, like your hard drive or your web site, then you should probably think about doing it right now; before something happens to it.

After all, what would happen if your computer's hard drive just decided to go out: even though you don't expect it to happen, sometimes it just crashes for no apparent reason. How long has it been since you backed up all the songs on your hard drive? You know, the one you sync with your iPod?

What would happen if you lost your iPod? Would you lose all your songs? Do you have it synced with your computer? Is your laptop backed up?

There are several options when it comes to backing up your online data. Consider the fact that there are many secure, trusted companies that offer online backups. Here are a few:

• Global Data Vault (Best Bet)

• iBackup
• US Data Trust
• Carbonite
• Mozy

There are also some online backup review web sites, but the reviews that you see on there might be questionable. The "reviews" or "featured companies" might be companies that have actually paid to show up there on those online data backup review web sites. You might consider asking friends if they back up their data for some recommendations and reviews.

Here are a few sites for online backup reviews:

• Backup Review
• Online Backup Service Reviews
• Backup Reviews at PCMag

Global Data Vault has a great blog post called "Common Sense Guide to Cyber Security" where they reference The Common Sense Guide to Cyber Security for small businesses. It's published by the US Homeland Security department. Here are some of the tips:

• Use a strong password
• Make sure you have a backup (I recommend a online backup to make it easy)
• Keep your software up to date
• Get expert advice when you need it.

The best question to ask, though, is, "if your hard drive failed right now, would you have a recent backup?"