5 effective ways to prevent laptop intrusion

The theft of laptops and mobile devices is on the rise, its consequences on financial issues as well as other problems drag on.

These two realities are certified through statistics from a variety of different organizations.

- More than 81% of companies reported losing one or more laptops contained in sensitive information between 2005 and 2006.

- Financial loss from laptop thieves has surpassed $ 6.7 million. About 97% of stolen computers are not recoverable, according to FBI computer and crime center statistics.

- In a recent statistical report made by McAfee data vulnerabilities related to personal customer information can damage a company to $ 268,000.

According to a Gartner Group analyst in Stamford, about 73% of companies do not have specific security for their laptops. It doesn't really cost too much to protect mobile devices and data on them.

There is also no shortage of easy-to-use tools or lots of inexpensive laptop security tools on the market today, said James Quin, a researcher at Info-Tech Research Group, London, Ont. good.

Commercial encryption software can be sold for less than $ 50 to $ 80.

Analysts say the real problem here is the lack of knowledge for employees and their lack of training in laptop security.

To provide a way to handle this problem, we've come up with five ways you can use it immediately to help protect your laptop and data from being lost and stolen.

1. Lock the laptop

Nearly 40% of lost laptops are in the office. It can be prevented by using your lock on the desk.

More than 80% of laptops in the market today are equipped with security slots to attach this key.

This slot allows users to attach a cable lock or a laptop warning device to the machine. These devices can withstand common thieves. Locks and alert sets only cost about $ 30 to $ 50.

While your laptop is tied with a cord, thieves can still get some PCMCIA NIC cards or modems plugged into the device. So take out the cards and store them in a safe place when you're not using them.

2. Tag the laptop to quickly find it again

Permanent marking or engraving on the exterior of the laptop with your company name, address or phone number is also the most basic way to help you find your computer when it is lost somewhere.

Such markup may not yield to thieves but it can make them more difficult to resell.

Property search service providers often provide cards for only about $ 5-10 each. Typically, each card will have a number of symbols for searchers to call to report back.

Some companies offer these services like TrackITBack, YouGetItBack.com, BoomergangIt, ArmorTag and zReturn.

You should also fill in the manufacturer's registration card. It is a very thin card but if a thief sends your device to the factory for maintenance, this could be a good mark. Keep a record of this number of your laptop series. This record will help the authorities determine the owner when finding a laptop.

3. Using tracking software

Many vendors offer software products that allow you to prevent laptop theft by sending your laptop a signal to the search center when the device is stolen.

The device connects to the Internet and uses GPS technology to alert the service provider or police about where the laptop is lost.

Some providers and prices for this service: CompuTrace ($ 50 in a year), zTrace Technology ($ 50 in a year), Inspice ($ 30 in a year), Brigadoon's PC PhoneHome ($ 30 in time), and XTool Laptop Tracker of Stealth Signal ($ 40 in a year).

Organizations like government branches, police departments and military services or healthcare providers should consider to equip laptops with search devices.

For example, Panasonic laptops with built-in hard drive encryption tools, embedded within CompuTrace's testing software and fingerprint scanners will allow only registered users to access the device. this count.

Some early products may allow administrators to delete data remotely when the computer is stolen.

4. Deploy strong BIOS password

Prevent data thieves by setting BIOS password (basic input / output system)

The main function of the BIOS is to identify and initialize component hardware in order to prepare the laptop software programs stored on the machine to load, execute and acknowledge control on the laptop.

Some laptop manufacturers have quite strong BIOS. You should find out whether the BIOS password can lock the hard drive so it cannot be removed and reinstalled with a similar machine name.

5. Backup and encrypt data

Always perform backups of sensitive data. This problem does not take too much time because you can use the attached backup utilities included in most operating systems. If your network does not have disk space for backups, consider external hard drives such as CD-Rs, USB flash, or online storage services.

There are a number of major vendors that currently provide data encryption tools to render information to anyone who does not have the correct decryption key.

Another option is to use a corporate virtual private network that has data encryption.

Info-Tech's Quin says there are also many free options. For example, Microsoft provides encryption tools for its operating system. ' Users just need to activate the Windows file encryption system on their laptop but many people are completely ignorant of it .'