Here are several excerpts from an article picked up by CIO Today from USA Today, A Few Tips for Keeping Your Laptop Safe:
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who travel with laptop PCs for business or pleasure, are you sure you’re properly protecting your computer companion?
According to tech security giant Symantec, a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds in the USA — and 97% of them are never recovered.
Losing the computer itself may be the least of your worries when you consider the valuable data that resides on it: financial records, passwords, private documents or irreplaceable digital photos.
“The key to protecting your personal or business data is encryption and backup,” says Peter Firstbrook at Gartner Research. “With encryption, you are preventing someone from accessing your information, while backing up your data is a safeguard in case your laptop is stolen, damaged or lost.”
With that in mind, the following is a look at software and hardware solutions to protecting your laptop, and perhaps more important, the critical files that reside on it.
Encryption – An encryption program can protect selected files or folders on the hard drive from prying eyes.
Backup – Backing up your valuable information on the road is also important. Flash memory drives — which snap into your laptop’s Universal Serial Bus (USB) port — are a tiny, fast and inexpensive solution to protecting your data.
Biometrics Security – Many laptops now offer a fingerprint reader, so you — and only you — can access your important files and folders. Usually this biometrics scanner is located near the keyboard or just underneath the laptop’s LCD screen.
Tracking Services – Some companies specialize in helping authorities track down your laptop if stolen, while a few PC manufacturers also offer this as an additional service.
Hot-Spot Hijinks – Also be careful when logging online in a wireless hot spot — such as in a hotel, cafe or airport lounge — as you may not be logging onto a valid wireless network .
A new kind of phishing attack has surfaced, where computer users believe they’re signing onto a public wireless network with their credit card, but it’s really someone nearby with a wireless computer attempting to steal your identity.
Under Lock and Key – Finally, laptop-toting travelers who visit airport lounges or cybercafes may consider physically bolting their laptop to a desk or other secure object.
Think of it like a computer version of a bike chain; a steel cable is connected to a small security slot on the laptop, usually along the side or back, before being tethered to a large or heavy object.
For more on specific laptop security products and services, be sure to check out the complete source article.
