Securely Delete Files With Just One Click

Another free tool to help you keep your and your customers information safe. DeleteOnClick completely deletes files in one click and the data becomes unrecoverable, and also has the option to wipe free disk space. For this reason you must use the program carefully. Once a file is 'Securely Deleted' no one can undelete it.

Privacy Protection

We continue to read of security breaches that lead to the loss of personal data ie social security numbers. Government data that is lost on laptops is reported regularly in the news. If you collect sensitive information or have proprietary information you really need to protect, don't count on sign in passwords to protect this data, it is nearly useless.

Fortunately, there is a free solution called TrueCrypt that could solve this problem for you. TrueCrypt allows you to mount an encrypted disc on your computer with multiple encryption schemes including AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). According to Wikipedia in June of 2003 the US government announced that AES may be used for classified information.

"The design and strength of all key lengths of the AES algorithm (i.e., 128, 192 and 256) are sufficient to protect classified information up to the SECRET level. TOP SECRET information will require use of either the 192 or 256 key lengths. The implementation of AES in products intended to protect national security systems and/or information must be reviewed and certified by NSA prior to their acquisition and use"

If your business is responsible for a loss of personal information you may be exposed to legal liability for any identity theft that ensues. It is too easy to protect yourself and your customers not to use encryption technology to protect that information.

Free .pdf to .doc converter

Thanks to Lifehacker for pointing to a free software tool for converting pdf (Acrobat) documents to .doc (Microsoft Word) documents.

You can use this software to open and then edit pdf's, and the price is absolutely right. You can grab the software here.

SEP IRA - Simplified Employee Pension

With the beginning of the new year employers who have not established a retirement plan but who wish to make tax deductible contributions for 2009 will want to know about a SEP.

A SEP is a retirement plan that allows the employer to make flexible contributions on behalf of the owner and their employees. You decide each year whether or how large a contribution you wish to make. The IRS allows SEP plans to be established and funded up until the tax filing deadline for the business plus extensions. So if you need to fund a retirement plan for the previous tax year a SEP may be your only choice.

The plan is easy to establish and maintain. You can use the IRS approved plan document form 5305-SEP or the plan document provided by your financial service provider. Generally there is no government reporting to worry about. SEP plans are available to sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations including S corps.

Employee salary reduction contributions are not allowed in a SEP. The sole source of funding must come from company contributions. Contributions to a SEP are limited to the lesser of $45,000 or 25% of eligible compensation ( or 20% of your net earnings from self employment) for 2009. Additionally you must make equitable contributions for all employees who worked during the year any contribution is made, even employees who are no longer employed.

Your choice of financial institution is important. The financial institution you choose becomes the plan trustee and is responsible for receiving and investing contributions to the plan, providing a plain language explanation of the SEP plan, statements that show the value of the employees accounts, and any reporting requirements caused by a distribution from the plan. You are responsible for monitoring the financial institution selected to act as trustee to be sure they are doing everything they are require to do, and to insure that the trustees fees are reasonable for the services they are providing.

You must notify employees of contributions (An eligible employee is anyone who has earned $500 working for you, has reached age 21, and who has worked for 3 of the last 5 years.) to their accounts and provide them with a copy of the plan documents along with a statement that a SEP IRA may provide different rates of return and contain different terms than other IRAs the employee may have. A SEP plan is not deemed to be effective until you have provided these disclosures to you employees.

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