Posts Tagged ‘laptop security’

ICO HITS OUT AT DATA BREACH FIGURES

April 30th, 2011
My BenQ Joybook 8100 showing the Dutch BenQ ar...

Laptop Encryption

According to different sources the number of cases registered in ICO is 2565, while action taken against only 37 cases. This generates a huge dissatisfaction against the working process of ICO. The power of ICO is now under doubt. The rumour is that ICO is nothing but a paper tiger and as a result of it everybody is thinking that the number data breaches cases will increase as there is less chances on punishment.

The fault of ICO was highlighted after data breaching incident of Viasat. After that case Viasat claimed that ICO is playing with the figures of fine for data breaching. According to different sources Viasat was penalized by $310,000 for data breaching while the actual figure have to be $500,000.

There is also more dissatisfaction against the ICO in different Organizations due to the lethargic working process of ICO. As, according to different expert the number of cases of data breaching is increasing day by day so ICO has to be more quick prompt in taking action, but the reality tells that the number of cases recorded in the ICO remains static. Means the actual data has been hampered.

ICO denies all those complain and in a conference they announced that they have the actual figures and that is 37. They also assured the public that they are in hurry to take action against those organizations that are involving in data breaching.

But the truth is far different from the announcement of ICO. According the inner source of ICO, ICO has lost a large number of report files related to data breaching. Though there are a several number steps can be taken by ICO against data breaching but they are not interested to it. Without telling the organizations about the importance of data encryption software, laptop encryption software, encryption, data security, importance of hard drive encryption, laptop encryption, full disk encryption, computer protection they are more interested in taking fines. And the main problem is that they are also not very sure about the amount of fines, as a result of that the figure varies from organization to organization.

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Alertsec Xpress is a very easy and convenient service which enables us to secure valuable information on our laptops. Alertsec Xpress has found the ultimate way of deploying the protection via the web. They have found the ultimate way of deploying the protection via the web. They are the no.1 encryption service provider for hundreds of banks and financial institutions worldwide.

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Posted in Alertsec Express, Data Protection, Encryption, computer security software, full disk encryption, laptop encryption

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Laptop Safety Tips

October 13th, 2009

While we normally focus on encryption, so many of our articles discuss laptops and many of our readers deal with laptops every day.  So today we thought we would share tips for safety when you leave home with your laptop.  Obviously, encryption is the number one step – but there are other tips:

Laptop and International Travel Tips for Laptops

  • airport-laptopIf your laptop is new, take receipts – you don’t want your local customs charging you when you return, thinking you bought it abroad!
  • Don’t forget to take a voltage adapter on your laptop, as well as preparing a power plug adapter
  • Make a back-up of all your data before you leave the country
  • It is highly unlikely, but possible that a customs officer decides to search your laptop as you bring it into this other country So you should be sure that your hard drive doesn’t have anything that it shouldn’t. This includes pornography as the definition of what is or isn’t porn varies by country.  Also, if you work for a security or defense type firm realize that information that appears normal to you, could be considered espionage by an overzealous customs officer.
  • Also unlikely, but you may be required to decrypt any encrypted files for customs.

School and Library Security Tips for Laptops

  • Permanently mark your laptop with your contact information – this may deter thieves, since it makes resale more difficult.  Also consider pasting the laptop with stickers.
  • Use a generic backpack and not a custom laptop bag – a backpack may not be as obvious to thieves that a laptop is inside.
  • Don’t leave your laptop unattended at your feet in a bag. If you should become distracted or fall asleep your laptop is easy game – consider setting an alarm on your PC if you are tired to avoid this risk.
  • When using public wireless connections, be wary of logging into sites as passwords could be made available to others!

In Flight Security Tips for Laptops

  • airplane-laptopPlan ahead as to which luggage case will house your laptop.  You don’t want to store your laptop in an overhead bin if it’s in a soft case.
  • Close and put away your laptop when meals are served so there’s no risk of a beverage tipping onto it – I have personally seen this happen twice.  One time, my then six year old daughter learned many new and “interesting” words when the laptop owner was shrieking at the stewardess.
  • When you leave your seat, close your laptop and put it away or leave it on the seat, not the tray where it could more easily slip off during turbulence.

While laptops are essentially made for traveling – there are so many things you can do to ensure their safety. From the security of encryption to plain common sense on how you care for your belongings.

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Posted in Data Protection

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Protect the data, not just the laptop!

May 1st, 2009

I got a Skype message last week from a friend who is a frequent traveler.  He told me how his company finally gave them new lighter weight laptops and he was pretty excited about that.  I, of course, asked about the security of the laptop.  He responded, “Even you would be happy with this security backpack they gave us – they cost a $100 bucks each (USD).”

I think he went to the website for this backpack as he started typing all the details into our Skype conversation. This laptop has slash protection so nobody can use a knife to rip the backpack open.  He went on to say that all the zippers are tamper proof so the pockets could not be unzipped without his knowledge.  He even went into some detail on the snatchproof shoulder strap – but I have to admit that I was not paying too much attention at that point.

While he was dumping all these marketing buzz words on me, I’m busy running some real numerical analysis.  Finally I jumped in and ran the analysis by him.

  • Average Cost of a Laptop – Lets use a very conservative high estimate and assume a fully loaded name brand laptop and go with $2500 USD as the average laptop price.
  • Average Cost for “security” backpack - $100

So essentially they spent an extra 4% ($100/$2500) of the laptop’s value on an insurance policy against the laptop being stolen.

Then I asked how many records (rows in spreadsheets, records in a database) of confidential data are on your PC.  He said, “at least 5,000 – that’s why they invested in this backpack!”

I then quoted him from the The Ponemon Institute 2008 study on the Cost of a Data Breach. This study estimates that the average cost per breached record is now $202 USD.  So, if your laptop is stolen those 5,000 records represent a million dollars in money (lost revenue, lost brand reputation, staff spent dealing with crises etc.).

So I tell him that I know the bag is great – but what if you just leave it on the chair when you get up to get coffee and somebody walks along, picks it up, takes it home.  Then, in the comfort of their garage full of tools, they slash through all the backpack protection.  If that happens – has your company spent the same 4% or roughly $40,000 on tools to to protect the data?  Let’s just say the conversation went downhill from there (though I am optimistic that by the time he finds this blog he will have forgiven me).

Bottom line – laptops can easily be replaced.  Data on the laptop hard drives cannot be easily replaced and the costs associated with the data loss are huge.  You need to protect the data – not just the shell around the data.

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Posted in Data Protection, Encryption, Identity and Information loss

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Do you want your Company’s Name on the Next Laptop Theft Headline?

April 8th, 2009

Sensitive documents detailing your company’s business plans including your product strategy, acquisition prospects, product roadmap, and customer records including personally identifiable information can often be found on employee laptops.  Now imagine some of those laptops stolen. The thought of this happening strikes fear in the hearts and minds of executives ranging from small to large organizations that are striving to safeguard customer data and stay a step ahead of the competition. But the threat is real and
organizations are responsible for their data. This is not a joke.

Last month, almost 1300 people had to cope with the fact that their private information had been compromised.  Why? A faculty member’s laptop had been stolen while traveling overseas.

In Chicago, thousands of patient names, addresses, and social security numbers were on a laptop that was stolen from an employee who works at a company responsible for billing ambulance charges.

97,000 Starbucks employees were notified that in October, 2008 their information may have been compromised.  The result is a class action lawsuit against the company.

Finally, in 2006, a laptop containing the information of 26.5 million veterans was stolen from an employee of the Veteran Affairs Department of the United States.  The department agreed to pay $20 million to veterans as a result of a class action lawsuit brought against them.

These are just a few examples of laptop theft that are occurring around the world. Customers and patients are clearly expressing that they will not tolerate the loss of their sensitive information.  Some of the latest incidents are highlighting pending litigation due to laptop theft. The problem has become so great, that governments around the world are introducing privacy laws to enforce better information handling.

The risk to a company’s reputation, brand, and pocketbook must be compared to the cost of investing in a hard disk encryption solutions.  Hard disk encryption solutions such as AlertSec can provide the needed piece of mind that sensitive customer and business data is safe, even if a laptop is stolen.  Executives must act now before their company name ends up on one of these headlines.

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Posted in Encryption, Identity and Information loss, Lawsuits and settlements

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Laptops Loaded with Private Data

April 7th, 2009

lockedToday, you have laptop computers coming and going and it seems like every day a new and even smaller laptop model comes out. The challenge is that most people don’t realize what they really have on their laptop.

While people like the convenience of the small laptops, from an IT perspective the smaller the laptop the easier it is to be lost or stolen. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “But all my data is on the network, there’s nothing important on my PC.”

One of the key reasons why we encrypt all our laptops is that no matter how careful you think  you are – your laptop has data. Consider all these things that can be on your computer:

Passwords saved in your browser – You know you shouldn’t do this.  You know it’s not secure.  But admit it – most of us have saved at least one or two passwords in our browser. It won’t take a thief more than a minute to track these down.  I used Firefox and it just took me only 4 clicks to see the entire list I have saved on my home PC!

Not using unique passwords – Let’s all keep going with the confessions.  How many of your accounts use the same password?  You have to – the human brain can only hold so much.  So if a thief gets one of your passwords, they are likely to be able to hack into multiple accounts.

History saved in the browser – You might think, “well a thief won’t know what sites I visit” but you are dead wrong because of the saving of bookmarks, sites visited and the browser cache.

Access to the corporate network - The above issues might just effect an employee’s personal information, but how many of your employees have saved the password to their VPN or other access client on the PC.

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg as there are so many instances where convenience outweighs security on laptops.

For an employee, losing a laptop could be worse than losing their wallet or purse.  As noted with the VPN issue, the company will suffer from potential access to their network. But the company will also see productivity issues as the employee will be spending many hours closing accounts and on hold with busy call centers – typically during the busy workday.  Your loss from just one laptop theft could be more than a year of data encryption protection with AlertSec Xpress for your fleet of laptops!

As the IT manager some days I long for the mainframe days. All you had was one big computer in a computer room with a nice big lock on the door. Anything outside the computer room was nothing more than dumb terminals linked to the mainframe. No Internet, no dial-up – just a really secure computer system.  But since we are not going back to those days – I use protection wherever and whenever I can.

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