Secure your laptop's data
How do you protect your laptop's data?
You should protect your laptop's data from prying eyes and against loss from theft. Several kinds of products are available, including biometric fingerprint readers, data encryption software, and tracking systems.
Traveling with your laptop shouldn't be a nail-biting experience. But that's what it is for many business users who store sensitive data on their portables. Safeguarding your laptop with a Windows XP login password is like using The Club on your car's steering wheel. It might discourage casual laptop crooks (who will just reformat the drive and sell the machine), but anyone who really wants to get at your data will find a way.
Several kinds of products are available, including biometric fingerprint readers, data encryption software, and tracking systems. Which is right for your business? It helps to plan ahead; if your laptop is stolen, at least you'll know that no one else will be able to access your files. Follow these tips to keep your data safe while on the go.
Get a third-party security suite (such as one from Zone Labs or McAfee) that includes a good virus scanner, antispyware software, and a strong firewall. This is a very important step; a virus can open a backdoor to data theft, and a firewall protects your system from anyone on the Internet who tries to break in. Don't forget to disable "File and print sharing" in the Windows XP Network Connections control panel and apply the latest Windows XP patches by turning on Automatic Updates in Start > Programs > Windows Update. Microsoft is constantly working to tighten security as new vulnerabilities come to light; by applying these patches, your system's security will be up-to-date.
Flash drives are inexpensive and can hold lots of data. They're also very small and easily lost. If you plan on using one, make sure it is a protected model such as the Lexar JumpDrive TouchGuard ($69.99, 256MB). Some drives require either a password or a fingerprint for access; no one will be able to read the contents otherwise. Meanwhile, using products such as Airscanner Mobile Security or JP Mobile SureWave Defense will make sure no one can sniff out the data on your handheld.
A virtual, encrypted drive allocates a special portion of your hard disk in which to hide your company secrets so that only you can access them. Look into free products such as the open-source PGP and TrueCrypt for more information.
Some newer laptops (such as the ThinkPad X41 Tablet and the Toshiba Portege R200) come with built-in hardware-level encryption. This means your data will be virtually impossible to hack because the hardware-level encryption sits in front of the operating system. These laptops also have biometric fingerprint readers, which are more convenient and arguably stronger than regular passwords.
If your laptop doesn't have these features, you could add a third-party product such as SecuriKey ($119.95), which works in tandem with a password for two levels of protection. Don't forget the ubiquitous Kensington lock to physically secure your laptop to a table or a cubicle while you're at the coffee machine. And make sure that table is secure; some furniture is very easy to disassemble, even in just a few minutes.
Todd Jennings, the IT director at the Transplant Resource Center of Maryland, an organ and tissue transplantation facility, installed the CyberAngel ($36 to $60 per user per year) on 35 laptops that clinical staff use to go out and respond to trauma patients. "Our application is self-contained in the laptop," said Jennings. "With Internet connectivity, it transmits back to our database in a secure, encrypted way." If someone doesn't enter the correct password, all the communication ports are disabled (even the keyboard, mouse, and FireWire and USB ports), protecting the highly sensitive patient and clinical data.
Products such as the CyberAngel and ComputracePlus not only protect laptops, but can even help recover them, which gets you back in business quickly. "If a person unbeknownst to them purchases a stolen laptop and plugs it in to a network connection, once they start it up, that computer begins to communicate," said Jennings. The computer sends a notification to the CyberAngel monitoring center, which grabs the IP address the computer is using to log on to the Internet. From there, they can work with the Internet service providers and local authorities and start tracking backward, find the laptop, and try to get it back in your hands.
Daily coverage of important security threats, and how to safeguard against them.
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