Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Laptop Gone?

Your laptop PC may be the most dangerous item you own.

Laptops are a magnet for thieves, because they can easily be sold to pawnbrokers or others.  But it's the data on your laptop that can be truly devastating in the wrong hands.

In 2006, thieves broke into the home of a contractor for the Veterans' Administration, and stole a laptop containing identifying data on 26.5 million veterans.  The information included name, address, and Social Security numbers—more than sufficient data to carry out a massive identity theft. 

If your company has a new invention, a patent application in process, or other potentially profitable developments underway, it's perfectly understandable that your competitors might be interested in knowing about it.  And what better way to learn more than to peek at the files on your laptop?

Laptop thefts are also increasingly common.  In 2004 (the latest statistics I could find), more than 600,000 laptops were stolen worldwide. 

What's more, when you take your laptop across a U.S. border, customs officials have the right to copy all of the data on it and use it for whatever purpose they wish.  There's no warrant, no probable cause, no arrest—just "gimme." 

How can you protect yourself?  I recommend the following strategies:

* Keep confidential information on an encrypted USB stick—not on the laptop itself. When you've finished using your laptop, turn it off, then put the USB stick in a safe place—your pocket, your key ring, or even on a chain around your neck.  That way, if someone steals your laptop, your data will still be with you.  A good program that supports USB encryption is Pretty Good Privacy Whole Disk Encryption (http://www.pgp.com). 

* Encrypt your laptop's hard drive.  The PGP Whole Disk Encryption suite, along with several other program, can encrypt your entire hard drive.  If someone manages to steal your laptop, the thief won't be able to even boot up the hard disk.  Your data—along with information on your Web browsing habits and other data stored in various locations on your hard drive—is completely secure.

Encryption, though, isn't foolproof.  Last week, researchers found a major security flaw in several popular disk encryption systems that can leave encrypted data vulnerable to exposure.  Laptops are particularly vulnerable. 

More in my next blog entry…

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Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann