Today's computer electronics are extremely vulnerable to voltage surges and transients. The high sensitivity of the chips make them prone to fast degradation due to voltage surges, and their small size has considerably lowered their failure threshold. 

The consequence of an electrical surge may be severe: burnt lines or cards, lockups, memory loss, data retrieval problems, altered or garbled data, etc.

Sources of electrical surges are numerous. The most common is a nearby lightning strike, which can affect nearby data lines through induction. Industrial transients are also significant. There are also man-made disturbances caused by switching and commuting of electrical motors.

Surges can enter your computer through any exterior line connected to the unit. These include power lines, telephone lines, cable lines, and network lines. Without circuits being adequately protected, the door is left wide open to damaging electrical surges and a loss of all information stored on your computer.

In short, make sure all your valuable electronics are surge protected.  User Support Services provides surge suppressors for all faculty and staff campus offices.  If you are unsure whether or not your campus equipment is adequately safeguarded, please contact the Help desk (x21720) for an evaluation.  For home use you may purchase a surge protector wherever office supplies are sold, but be sure it has a lifetime warranty. You may also visit http://www.ccsu.edu/its/usersupport/PurchasingAssistance/Default.htm for purchasing assistance.