host posted on February 19, 2009 11:50
Do you use a laptop or notebook or netbook at home or at work that has data on it that you do not want others to access if it is stolen or lost, like passwords or resumes or medical data?
Here are three (3) ways to help ensure that the data you need to protect is protected.
- Hard Drive encryption. Passwords can no longer provide adequate protection. With the help of free tools available on the net, a hacker, a partner or even a child can bypass a password. Hard drive encryption, on the other hand, is no where near as easy to overcome. There may be technology that cracks hard drive encryption, but if there is, no one is advertising it anywhere. A lost or stolen hard drive from a laptop that is encrypted will be very unattractive to whom ever steals or finds it because the hard drive will be useless to them. The down side to hard drive encryption is that if the encrypted system refuses to boot, it may require a software reinstall/rebuilt from scratch or a full system restore. This may not be a rare occurrence, but it is a consideration. This also means that regular, verified operating system backups are not optional, but required. This means that encrypted laptops / notebook hard drives also require a different level of attention and support than unencrypted systems, but if you want to keep your data safe and out of the hands of others, it’s well worth the extra effort.
- Built-in or after purchase anti-theft protection. Laptop anti theft detection software allows a user or an IT department to remotely disable a laptop and in many cases, to identify its physical location and ask police to recover it. This is not new technology, but it has been quietly maturing to the point that it is almost fail safe. My favorite is software from absolute.com called Computrace. Google “Laptop anti theft detection software” for more choices and the latest information. Some new computer manufacturers, like Dell, offer this software as part of the BIOS.
- Finger readers. This technology is said to significantly reduce data theft and because there are few studies to support this, this claim is not substantiated at this time, but what is known, is that if used properly, it will certainly be a powerful deterrent. Users like finger readers because they have one less password to memorize. Burglars and other thieves don’t like finger readers because they have to replace or reformat the hard drive and then reinstall the operating system to by pass it, unless the finger readers is part of the BIOS, which adds another layer of complication for the thief.
If you have data you want to protect, find a solution that works for you and use it!