Veritas Enhances NetBackup

Among the enhancements are instant recovery from system failures using point-in-time copies of data created with integrated data snapshot technology, said Rob O'Brien, product marketing manager for NetBackup.

A system crash can be recovered from data stored on hard drives or tape, O'Brien said. "If the system crashes, the software can point to the latest snapshot time and do an instant recovery. It doesn't move all the data to the new system, just all the changes," he said.

Also new is application support specifically for Microsoft Exchange and Windows Server 2003, O'Brien said. NetBackup now has the intelligence to know when multiple copies of the same attachment are being backed up and can back up just one copy of the attachment with pointers for the multiple users that have that attachment, he said.

Veritas also integrated disaster-recovery support into NetBackup, O'Brien said. Disaster recovery is automated with the addition of two new reports: Non-Vaulted, which shows what data is not vaulted off-site, and Vaulted Cost, which makes sure expired tape cartridges come back to customers from off-site locations for timely reuse, he said.

Patrick Kopins, president of Ociter Enterprises, a Sparks, Md.-based solution provider, said he expects interest in the enhancements to be high. "We've been piecing those functions together using a variety of tools and are interested in an integrated product," he said.

Brenda Zawatski, vice president of product marketing at Veritas, called NetBackup a "channel-heavy" product. Including fulfillment of sales from the direct channel, solution providers account for up to 70 percent of NetBackup installations, she said.

The software is available now, with a price of about $5,000 for Linux and Windows platforms and $10,000 for Unix platforms.

Do you search compulsively for health information online? You could have this common disorder

In the age of "Dr. Google," it can be tempting to click your way to self-diagnosis — but an overload of health information can cause its own set of symptoms.

"Cyberchondria," a subset of health anxiety, is described as a condition in which an individual excessively searches for health information online. 

While cyberchrondria may not start as a physical disease, it can cause intense levels of anxiety and fear that can negatively impact a person's health, according to Dr. Maggie Williams, a family physician in Scottsdale, Arizona, and medical director for MDLIVE Virtual Primary Care.

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Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, said he and his colleagues used to call the condition "medical students' disease."

An overload of health information can cause its own set of symptoms called "cyberchondria," or heightened health anxiety.  (iStock)

"When you know a little, but not enough, you imagine you have everything and constantly worry," he told Fox News Digital.

Although cyberchondria is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a formal diagnosis, it’s thought to be closely related to hypochrondria, a more general heightened anxiety about one’s health.

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In 2014, two U.K. researchers, Eoin McElroy and Mark Shevlin, created a "cyberchrondria severity scale" that measures a person's score across eight areas: compulsion, distress, excessiveness, reassurance seeking and mistrust of medical professionals.

As Siegel pointed out, the condition is becoming more common over time. 

"The invention of the internet and then the perfection of search engines created a global hypochondria, where patients searched to find possible explanations for their symptoms," he said.

"The invention of the internet and then the perfection of search engines created a global hypochondria, where patients searched to find possible explanations for their symptoms," a doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

"It especially increased during the pandemic, when dogma abounded and everyone was suddenly an expert," Siegel added.

A study published in JIMR Formative Research last year found that COVID-19 caused a spike in the condition in spring 2020, as people experienced higher levels of "cyberchondria-related distress and compulsion during the pandemic."

"The invention of the internet and then the perfection of search engines created a global hypochondria, where patients searched to find possible explanations for their symptoms."

One user shared experiences with cyberchrondria on Reddit: "I thought that I might see something that will ease my mind, but … it makes it all worse and worse. Out of the 100 times I checked a symptom online, only 10 of them kinda made me feel safe."

Another user wrote, "I'm pretty sure I have this. The pandemic definitely made my health anxiety worse. Unfortunately, the pandemic also made it harder to get in to see a doctor in a timely manner and so the internet is the next logical place to look for answers."

In one study, more than half of respondents said they searched online instead of going to the doctor — and more than two in five turned to social media to ask about their symptoms. (iStock)

In a small study by MDLIVE Virtual Primary Care, more than half of respondents said they searched online instead of going to the doctor, and more than two in five (42%) turned to social media to ask about their symptoms.

Another 22% said they rely on artificial intelligence for medical answers.

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Nearly half of the 518 respondents, who provided data in August 2023, said they have misdiagnosed or mistreated an issue based on information they found online.

As Siegel warned, online medical information "isn't often accurate, and it isn't filtered, and it lacks clinical judgment."

Several signs may indicate that people are experiencing cyberchondria, Williams said.

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"Most people may not recognize the symptoms before it’s too late, after they’ve invested hours, delayed access to the doctor and worsened their overall anxiety," she told Fox News Digital.

One warning sign is spending one to three hours or more at a time searching for symptoms online.

A quarter of survey respondents said that when experiencing a health issue, they spend more than one hour searching for their symptoms online. (iStock)

A quarter of the survey respondents said that when experiencing a health issue, they spend more than one hour searching for their symptoms online.

Obsessive medical searches may also get in the way of day-to-day activities, Williams noted.

In the MDLIVE study, 41% of respondents said that compulsively searching for symptoms has gotten in the way of their daily tasks.

"Most people may not recognize the symptoms before it’s too late, after they’ve invested hours, delayed access to the doctor and worsened their overall anxiety."

"You may feel a compulsion to search online constantly, often rechecking symptoms multiple times, despite having completed an exhaustive search," Williams said.

Another symptom of cyberchrondria is high levels of distress and anxiety when searching for symptoms online — an rather than easing of concerns.

It’s best to consult with a health care professional at the onset of any symptoms, a doctor advised.  (iStock)

Fifty-eight percent of the participants in MDLIVE’s study said that searching online for their symptoms made them more anxious. 

"You may also have a heightened fixation on a particularly serious disease or condition, despite any evidence that you are suffering from it," Williams added.

If you think you may be experiencing symptoms of cyberchondria, Williams said it’s important to set boundaries on the time spent searching for health information online. 

"Resist the urge to check and recheck symptoms," she advised.

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She also recommends avoiding "deep diving" into online forums or threads where people share "worst-case scenarios." 

"These tend to be exceptions rather than the rule, which can unnecessarily increase your anxiety," she said.

It’s best to consult with a health care professional at the onset of any symptoms, Williams advised. 

For those who might have trouble physically getting to a doctor’s office, a doctor suggested setting up a telehealth visit to address concerns in a timely manner, which will reduce the temptation to dive into online searching. (iStock)

"They can provide accurate information about your health concerns, potentially helping you to sidestep the slippery slope of cyberchondria," she said.

Siegel noted that as a physician, one of his jobs is to help patients sort through their fears and worries and put them in perspective of real risk and disease. 

"You may also have a heightened fixation on a particularly serious disease or condition, despite any evidence that you are suffering from it."

"This is even more the case with social media, where you end up searching through videos — especially TikTok — and become convinced you have a disease," he said. "This all increases anxiety and is bad for health."

For those who might have trouble physically getting to a doctor’s office, Williams suggested setting up a telehealth visit to address concerns in a timely manner, which will reduce the temptation to dive into online searching.

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It's important to address cyberchrondria seriously, just as you would with any other health issue, she said.

"If you're experiencing anxiety related to your health, you may find it helpful to speak with a mental health professional."

For people suffering from cyberchondria, experts recommend finding a trustworthy doctor who can guide them. (iStock)

While there are some reputable sources of health information on the internet, not all online information is factual or trustworthy.

"I still rely on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes for Health, Mayo Clinic, NYU Langone and CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy)," said Siegel.

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That said, he warned that even vetted medical websites can still sometimes be wrong.

For those suffering from cyberchondria, Siegel advised them to find a doctor they can trust who can help guide them, while at the same time pulling back from online sources.

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.

Melissa Rudy is health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital. 

Project Veritas’s First Amendment Claim to the Diary of Biden’s Daughter Denied by Judge

Criminal prosecutors are expected to get their hands on nearly 1,000 documents related to the alleged theft of the diary of Ashley Biden, the only child of President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, after a judge rejected the conservative group Project Veritas's First Amendment claim.

Project Veritas’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said Monday that the group is considering appealing the ruling, according to a report from The Associated Press. The organization has until January 5 to turn over the material.

The documents stem from November 2021 FBI raids on the homes of the organization’s founder, James O’Keefe, and two of his associates. Federal agents ultimately seized 47 cell phones, computers, memory sticks, and other electronic devices, according to a report from New York Magazine. O’Keefe left the organization last February following a management dispute.

Since the raid, O'Keefe has maintained that the FBI investigation into Project Veritas’s activities—which he argues were legitimate attempts at newsgathering violates the First Amendment. In this effort, he’s drawn support from the American Civil Liberties Union, which warned after the raid that, despite Project Veritas’s well-documented “disgraceful deceptions,” the “precedent set in this case could have serious consequences for press freedom.”

In its written arguments before Judge Analisa Torres, lawyers for Project Veritas and O’Keefe argued the investigation “seems undertaken not to vindicate any real interests of justice, but rather to stifle the press from investigating the President’s family.”

Torres ruled that Project Veritas’s First Amendment arguments were “inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent” and that the group’s claim to be protecting the identities of a confidential source was voided by the fact that both people who sold the diary to the group pled guilty in August 2022.

In their guilty plea for conspiring to traffic in stolen goods, Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander—both of whom are currently awaiting sentencing—admitted they stole Biden’s diary from a house in Florida and sold it to Project Veritas for $40,000, hoping to embarrass the then-presidential candidate as he challenged former President Donald Trump. (Before he was elected, Trump was a donor to the organization.)

Project Veritas has admitted it paid Harris and Kurlander, but O’Keefe has said the group did not publish any information from the diary after it could not confirm its authenticity.

The court ruling comes two weeks after Hannah Giles, O’Keefe’s replacement as CEO, announced on social media that she was quitting, saying she had “stepped into an unsalvageable mess — one wrought with strong evidence of past illegality and post-financial improprieties.” Giles added that she had brought evidence of illegal behavior to “the appropriate law enforcement authorities.”