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3 posts tagged with "it-holidays"

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· 3 min read

Written by Michelle Wong - Marketing Specialist

What is National Clean Out Your Computer Day?

National Clean Out Your Computer Day was started in 2000 as an initiative of the Institute for Business Technology and falls on the second Monday in February.

The event promotes taking time out of your day to do some basic housekeeping on your computer, such as backing up your computer, organizing your files and folders, updating software, and removing unused files.

Consider it an early start to spring cleaning. Just like any other cleaning or tidying up task, don’t get overwhelmed by trying to do it all at once, break it down into manageable chunks and just start with something easy, like deleting your folder of screenshots.

Before you delete any files, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a backup of your data, just in case!

And don’t forget about wiping the outside of your device, cleaning the screen and keyboard (say goodbye to fingerprints and keyboard crumbs).

Clean Out Your Computer Day for IT Providers & MSPs

IT Providers and MSPs can use Clean Out Your Computer Day to remind end users to create positive digital habits and walk them through how to perform a digital declutter. Below are some tips to show your clients and end users how to observe Clean Out Your Computer Day.

How to Celebrate

  • Backup your computer, including files & folders, documents, and photos
  • Organize your folders, documents, and bookmarks (close some of those dozens of internet browser tabs)
  • Free up space by deleting or archiving files that you don’t need or don’t use
  • Uninstall all the programs you no longer need or use
  • Update software to the latest versions
  • Tidy up your desktop and downloads folder (and delete all the screenshots and files you don’t need anymore)

Why is it Important?

National #CleanOutYourComputerDay is another reminder to help us create good digital and cyber hygiene habits. Cleaning up and tidying our personal and work computers can help us:

  • Keep organized – making everything easier to find which will ultimately save time over the coming year
  • Make our computers run faster – by deleting unnecessary files and uninstalling unused applications
  • Give us peace of mind – by making sure our important files are properly saved and backed up, either locally or to the cloud, or both.

Below is a checklist and some additional references and resources about Clean Out Your Computer Day.

More 2025 IT Holidays + Free Marketing Resources

Check out our blog post on 2025 IT Holidays for more cybersecurity awareness days, and download our free marketing resources to help educate your end users about how they can stay safe in our digital world.

References:

· 4 min read

Written by Michelle Wong - Marketing Specialist

What is Data Privacy Week?

Each year the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) organizes Data Privacy Week to educate people about the importance of safeguarding personal data and ensuring online privacy and safety.

The goal of Data Privacy Week is to spread awareness about online privacy and reminding individuals that you have the power to manage your data.

Data Privacy Week for IT Providers & MSPs

IT Providers and MSPs can use Data Privacy Week as an opportunity to teach your clients about their data privacy and to remind end users to double check the information they are sharing on their apps and devices.

We’ve put together some information and resources to help you educate your end users.

Why is Data Privacy Week Important?

Data is collected everyday – from your computer, smartphone, smartwatch, and pretty much every other internet-connected device. All of your online activity generates a trail of data.

Data Privacy Week acts as a reminder to double check and update the settings on your apps, accounts and connected devices to decide how this data is collected and used.

Even the tech titans like Apple are bowing to the importance of data privacy as evidenced by their 2020 decision to roll out the Apple App Tracking Transparency feature to iOS 14.5. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature allows users to choose whether an app can track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising targeting. The impact of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature upended the mobile ad industry, which largely relies on user data.

With the emergence of AI (artificial intelligence) and the ever-changing landscape of technology and cybersecurity, we expect to see more laws and regulations around data privacy, following the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018 across Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2019 in the US.

But complying with regulations and relying on the tech industry to design better privacy controls isn’t enough. It’s important to proactively protect yourself, your clients and your company from unnecessary data collection.

Take Control of Your Data

The 2025 theme for Data Privacy Week is ‘Take Control of your Data’. Here are some easy tips and reminders from the NCA to help you manage your data privacy:

  • Know the trade-off between privacy and convenience – does each app or account need access to certain data (such as your contacts or photos or camera)?
  • Adjust privacy settings to your comfort level. Audit your apps, accounts, and double check the privacy and security settings on your devices.
  • Protect your data with several layers of security, including using secure passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • Install updates – as annoying as is to take time to update your software, it is important because updates help patch security flaws, deploy bug fixes, add new features, and help keep your devices running smoothly.

More 2025 IT Holidays + Free Marketing Resources

Check out our blog post on 2025 IT Holidays for more cybersecurity awareness days, and download our free marketing resources to help educate your end users about how they can stay safe in our digital world.

Below are some additional resources from the National Cybersecurity Alliance.

Resources:

· 5 min read

Written by Michelle Wong - Marketing Specialist

As we begin the new year, it’s a great time to look ahead and mark your calendar with key dates, including upcoming 2025 IT and cybersecurity holidays.

These holidays and awareness days are a fun opportunity to highlight and teach the importance of cybersecurity to your clients or end users, or show appreciation for your team.

Free Marketing Resources

Short on time? Use our pre-written social media posts and our kit of re-brandable graphics to educate your end users throughout the year.

Download the marketing campaign-in-a-box here.

Don’t forget to add these dates to your calendar!

Data Privacy Week

January 27-31, 2025

The National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) organizes Data Privacy Week to spread awareness about the importance of safeguarding personal data and ensuring online data privacy and safety. Our data is collected everyday – from your computer, smartphone, smartwatch, and pretty much every other internet-connected device. You can check and update the settings on your apps and devices to decide how this data is collected and used.

#DataPrivacyWeek

References:

National Clean Out Your Computer Day

February 10, 2025

National Clean Out Your Computer Day was started in 2000 as an initiative of the Institute for Business Technology and falls on the second Monday in February. The event promotes taking time out of your day to do some basic housekeeping on your computer, such as organizing your files and folders, updating software, and removing unused files. Before you delete any files, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a backup of your data, just in case! Don’t forget about wiping the outside of your device, and cleaning the screen and keyboard.

#CleanOutYourComputerDay

References:

World Backup Day

March 31, 2025

World Backup Day on March 31st is one of our favorite IT holidays on the calendar (for no specific reason). World Backup Day reminds us to backup and protect our data. In today’s digital age, data backup and data protection is critical for businesses and organisations to help protect against cyberattacks, ransomware, system crashes, human error, and more. Having a robust and secure backup solution, like Comet Backup, will help safeguard against these data loss threats.

#WorldBackupDay

References:

World Password Day

May 1, 2025

World Password Day is celebrated annually on the first Thursday of May to encourage people to use stronger passwords and secure their online accounts. Strong passwords are important for protecting sensitive information and preventing unauthorized access. For another layer of protection you can also use two-factor authentication (2FA) to secure your accounts for better security.

#WorldPasswordDay

References:

System Administrator Appreciation Day

July 25, 2025

System Administrator Appreciation Day (SysAdmin Day) honors IT professionals who work behind the scenes to keep our IT systems, networks, servers, and technology running smoothly at businesses and organizations across the world. Shout out to our everyday IT heroes!

#SysAdminDay

References:

IT Professionals Day

September 16, 2025

We celebrate IT Professionals Day on the third Tuesday of September to recognize the technical IT experts that make sure our systems run smoothly. Whether its desktops, laptops, mobile devices, printers, applications, servers, networks, databases or cybersecurity, IT professionals keep our businesses humming. IT Pro Day recognizes the critically important role of these technical experts.

#ITProDay

References:

Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October 1-31, 2025

In October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an international initiative that educates everyone about online safety and empowers individuals and businesses to protect their data from cybercrime. Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds everyone that there are simple, effective ways to keep yourself safe online, protect your personal and business data, and ultimately help secure our world.

#CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #SecureOurWorld

References:

Computer Security Day

November 30, 2025

Computer Security Day was first launched in 1988 by the Association for Computer Security. Since then, the way we use computers has changed. Today, we use computers to stay connected almost every day – working from home, shopping online, internet banking, streaming movies, social media, and more. Computer Security Day encourages individuals and businesses to adopt good virtual habits and be proactive in protecting your data in our modern digital world.

#ComputerSecurityDay

References:

December 4, 2025

While National Cookie Day is not necessarily a conventional IT awareness day, we like to celebrate it each year on December 4th as a reminder to clear your cache and cookies on your web browser. Clearing your cache and cookies can help improve your browser’s performance, protect your privacy by reducing tracking, and free up a little bit of space on your computer.

#NationalCookieDay

References:

Be Proactive All Year Long

No matter what time of the year, it’s always important to be proactive and take action to keep ourselves and our organizations safe by backing up data, securing accounts, using strong passwords, and having good cyber hygiene and habits.

If you are looking for a fast and secure backup solution, you can test drive Comet Backup with a 30-day FREE trial! Start running backups and restores in 15 minutes or less.