Laptop Security
Laptop has become the new thief magnet, attracting common thugs, sophisticated con-men, dishonest housekeeping employees, industrial spies, and hi-tech crime rings. Laptops have also been reported misplaced if left unattended in hotel rooms, airports, or restaurants. Laptops usually have confidential information and company secrets stored in them. So a stolen laptop is not only the loss of a capital investment, but also the loss of valuable data stored on it.
Though not much can be done to prevent thefts of laptop, there are different ways to protect the data stored on it.
1) BIOS password:
Whenever the laptop is switched on, the user will be greeted with a screen “Please enter boot password:” Many laptops will prompt user three times to enter the correct password, and if he/she fails to do so, the machine will not boot further and will automatically switched off. On restarting the machine, the user will be again prompted three times for BIOS password.
Though BIOS password can be cleared by removing the CMOS battery, the process is time consuming and risky, and involves opening the laptop. Many thieves are not aware of these procedures and will not be able to access the information stored in your laptop.
2) Login Password:
Most of the operating systems such as Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista, Linux, and BSD support logins for users. Setting a user password is a great idea to prevent unauthorized access to the information stored on it. You must enter a login name and password to access the system. If the user enters incorrect information, he/she will be denied access to the system.
These basic security tools will prevent unauthorized access to the information stored on your laptop. Lets discuss your options for data security if your laptop is stolen by a sophisticated con-man or hi-tech gang. These people steal laptops not for its principal value, but for invaluable data stored on it. Their primary objective is to gain access to the confidential information stored on these machines.
In such a scenario, encrypting the contents (confidential data) is your biggest security measure if you wish to protect the valuable information stored on it. It is necessary for you to know how to utilize these encryption file systems before you use them.
Every hard drive needs to be formatted with some kind of file system before any data can be stored on it. Some of the common file systems in use are FAT/FAT16, FAT32, NTFS for Windows OS and ext2 for Linux OS. These basic file systems do not offer any methods to encrypt data. Hence, you require special encrypted file systems to serve your purpose.
3) Encryption File systems:
Encrypted File systems work over these file systems. The user has an option of encrypting any part of hard drive where he/she can store confidential data or user can encrypt individual files or entire directories. Once the user has encrypted the data using these file systems, only a person knowing the password can gain access to the encrypted data and read it. These file systems follow complex algorithms, which can’t be broken easily. In most of the cases, your encrypted data will be safe as it cannot be retrieved, read, or copied by an unauthorized person.
However, it is necessary you know that encrypting files is processor intensive task and a laptop with slow processor will work slowly while encrypting and decrypting the data. Also, the password intended to prevent the access should be complex, which can’t be guessed easily. If the password security is broken, encryption does not serve any purpose. Also, it is necessary for the user to remember the password, as he will not be able access data, if he forgets password.
4) Biometric:
Biometric authentication mechanisms are used as replacement for login passwords in most operating systems on laptops. Biometric is considered the highest security measure that can be offered to laptop users. Unique features of a user such as fingerprints, retinal pattern can be accurately identified and used to authorize persons. These types of devices are incorporated at hardware level and failure in authentication will let the machine boot up. Biometric scanners for fingerprints and retinal scan are incorporated in laptops.
5) Tracing and Tracking programs:
There are many tracking programs available for laptops. The laptop is programmed to send their location signals to the tracking companies when connected to the Internet. Once you report your laptop stolen or lost, the tracking companies look for these location signals. The location signals consist of information such as originating phone number, IP address and service provider.
You can consider any of these mentioned features when buying a laptop or you can consider different file encryption programs to secure your data on laptop. They will not only prevent unauthorized access to your sensitive data, but also give you peace of mind in an event your laptop is stolen.