Part of what makes the virtual part of virtual assisting work is the technology. Here's what makes your information safe with me:

Software

	Operating System: Windows XP
	Microsoft Office XP Professional
	Word
	Access
	PowerPoint
	Excel
	Outlook (e-mail, calendar)
	Eudora (e-mail)
	Paintshop Pro 7.0
	Dreamweaver 4.0
	Norton 2003 Antivirus
	Zone Alarm Firewall
	ICQ 2003a (instant messaging, file transfer, computer phone)
	Adobe Acrobat (for creating pdf files)
	Trax Time (for tracking my time by the minute)
	QuickBooks Pro 2003
	CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11

Web Tools

	Ezine Director
	Aweber
	Gotomypc
	Quickbizsites (template based website creator)

Hardware

	Dell Dimension 8300, Intel Pentium 4 Processor at 2.6 GHz
	19" Monitor
	512 MB RAM
	80 GB Hard Drive
	Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS Battery Back-up)
	48x/24x/48x CD-RW Drive
	Note: I have a spare computer and printer as a back-up.

Equipment

	HP Officejet 6110 All-In-One (copier, scanner, fax, printer)
	Dual line phone with GN Netcom Headset
	Paper Shredder

Internet

Comcast High-Speed Broadband Cable

Back-up and Virus Protection

In order to protect my system and the integrity of client's files, I have daily virus protection (Norton 2003). I use a firewall (Zone Alarm) since my Internet access is always on.

My entire system is copied (using imaging software) to an external hard drive for back-up protection. As a hardware firewall, I have a cable router linked to both the primary and spare computers.

In the event of a power outage, I have an APC UPS (uninterruptible power supply) battery backup so that the computer system can be shutdown properly so that no data is lost.