The events of 11 September reminded everyone of the importance of backing up data to a remote site. But, according to ICL's Manjit Rana, some brokers seem to have got the wrong end of the stick.
Rana said, for months, he had received photocopies of floppy discs through the post. The photocopies came with no explanation and Rana, not knowing what they were for, would throw them in the bin. That is, until he received a worrying phone call from a broker, asking about his back-up data.
The broker had been instructed to send in back-up diskettes, but wanted a copy for himself. So he had been sending in photocopies of the diskettes instead.
Not only were the photocopies useless, said Rana, but so were the diskettes after they had been through the photocopier.
