IT

Tips on keeping your laptop safe
by Steve Lape

laptop Imagine: One minute it's there and the next minute it's gone. In the blink of an eye, your laptop has been stolen.

Imagine losing all your contacts, your calendar, your documents, years of research—whatever you value on your computer.

A laptop computer, USB drives, and PDAs are helpful tools, but they also create security problems. To set up basic security, follow these tips from Security Focus.

Keep the laptop out of sight.

If thieves can't see it, they can't steal it. When not being used, a laptop should be safely tucked away in a locked desk drawer or in its bag.

Choose an inconspicuous carrying case.

An appropriately padded school bag or backpack will physically protect the laptop and accessories while providing much better concealment from thieves looking for valuable electronics.

Keep the laptop close at hand.

Don't leave your bag “just for a minute.” Remain in physical contact with it at all times.

Set a log-in password.

If you are running an operating system that supports proper logins setting a password is not only a good idea, it is required. To successfully log-on to the computer, you must provide a login name and password. If a thief enters incorrect password information, the operating system will disallow use. Make sure to use strong passwords.

Protect your password.

Let's assume that the thief has bypassed your first line of defense (password protection). What now? Even if an unauthorized user gains access to your laptop, there are still means of protecting the information that is stored upon it.

The password is the cornerstone of all computer security. Do not give out your password. Giving out your password is like giving away the dead-bolt key to the front door of your house. Also, do not write your password on your laptop or on something stored in the laptop case.

Don't set your laptop to automatically log onto websites, and don't save passwords on your laptop to make log-in easier.

Do not use passwords that are easy to guess. Make sure all of your passwords contain both upper and lower case letters, are not based on words in the dictionary, and preferably that contain some numbers. Don't use the same password for everything.

Encryption

Encrypting individual files or directories manually may be a viable option. Encryption also works well on USB drives and PDA’s. As long as your private key is kept safe, no one but you and your intended recipients will be able to view your data. Herein lies the problem. Most users keep their private keys locally on their machine so they can easily encrypt and decrypt files. If someone is able to get a copy of your private key, it is possible to largely bypass the encryption and read files.

Back up your data.

Regularly back up all of the important data on your laptop hard drive. DVD burners make this easy, so get in the habit of doing it regularly. Use a thumb drive for quick in-between backups. Be sure to secure the USB thumb drive.

Be careful about using Wi-Fi access.

With unencrypted Wi-Fi, every password, email message, and webpage can be read by any other user on that Wi-Fi network. That means you should only use secure (encrypted) email and should never enter a password or confidential information on a webpage over Wi-Fi unless it is a secure connection.

Store a minimal amount of data on the laptop.

We should assume, given their portability and value to potential thieves, that laptops, USB drives, and PDAs are inherently insecure. As such, store as little valuable data as possible on them. If you are using a laptop for business, take only the files that are essential for your work. Why give away more than you absolutely have to?

Remember, the laptop and software can be replaced, but the stored information often cannot be replaced.

The best way to protect your data is to never let it fall into the wrong hands.

July 2006
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