How to Keep Your Laptop Secure
Of all computing devices, laptops are the least immune to a variety of hazards.
A laptop can be lost or stolen. And not only is a mobile Computer not cheap in
itself, often the information stored on its hard
Drive costs much more than the
device itself. Therefore, the modern market does not lack solutions aimed at
ensuring the safety of both the laptop itself and the data in it.
HOW DO I KEEP MY LAPTOP SECURE?
"Immobilizer" for Laptop
Most often, laptops are simply stolen to sell. In this case, the data contained on the hard drive is unlikely to interest anyone. It's another matter if the information is the purpose of the theft. Experienced specialists will extract a lot of interesting information from seemingly harmless documents and letters, temporary files and postal addresses.
The easiest way to prevent physical loss of your laptop is to simply tie it to something heavy. Literally. It is a flexible metal cable with a loop at one end and a latch on the other. The latch is inserted into a hole in the computer case and is securely fastened. If there is no special key or the secret code is unknown, the high-strength alloy ensures that without the metal-cutting tools, the attacker will fail.
If it is impossible to physically bind a laptop, a motion sensor, for example, such as DEFCON MDP, made in PC Card format, will come to the rescue. This device not only beeps at 110 dB when you try to move the computer, but it also immediately initiates encryption (or, depending on the setting, deletion) of data on the hard drive.
Devices such as the Targus Defcon 3 are designed to protect the laptop on the move. The principle of their operation is simple - when the laptop bag is removed from the radio transmitter located in the owner's pocket further than a certain distance, an alarm sounds.
However, in order to take possession of the information stored on a mobile computer, it is not necessary to steal it. You just need to
have access to it.
Protection of Information
To prevent a stranger from reading, copying or changing information stored in a laptop, a lot of solutions have been developed that restrict access to data. The first and easiest way is to lock the BIOS, which does not allow the system to boot without entering a password. This tool is effective in the event that the user never leaves his laptop turned on, and the attacker does not have time to open the case and reset the BIOS chip or remove the HDD.
The next line of protection - the Windows password - is intended, rather, so that the user does not accidentally get into someone else's account. Windows password really makes it difficult for unauthorized access to information only when you activate the data encryption system - EFS (Encryption File System). It is included in the NTFS file system of Windows 2000 / XP. To encrypt any folder, right-click on it, select the "Properties / General / Others" context menu item, mark the "Encrypt content to protect data" option and click "OK". After this operation, any user who somehow bypasses the Windows password (booting, for example, from a floppy disk), will see a meaningless set of characters. Encryption is the only way to protect data from being read, even if an attacker gains physical access to the hard drive.
EFS should not be trusted with really hard data - the widespread adoption of Windows has spawned many experts on its secrets. On the Internet, you can find a lot of applications that provide more reliable encryption and comprehensive information protection. One of the common solutions that create an "encrypted" logical drive on a laptop hard disk is called Strong Disk Server. The free demo version, which differs only in reduced cypher strength, allows you to quickly create and connect password-protected partitions, transfer data and completely overwrite deleted files.
After downloading a free distribution kit, you can encrypt individual files, sign them with an electronic signature and send them by e-mail. The combination of two asymmetric keys (open - for the sender, private - for the recipient) guarantees, if not complete, then very close to it the protection of information.
What Can Be a Password
Access of a legal user to protected data is provided using special keys. The simplest key is a password, made up of letters, numbers and various symbols. It is very simple to use - just enter using the keyboard. However, the password can be spied on, picked up, and finally forgotten. It is safer to use key files written, for example, on a floppy disk or flash drive; almost all protection programs can do this.
As a password, not only a set of characters can be used, but also a certain algorithm - a small secret program. This algorithm, written on the smart card chip, is a powerful means of restricting access. It is equipped, for example, incorporate models of Acer notebooks. Depending on the selected security policy, Acer smart cards bundled with proprietary software can serve as passwords for boot, access control or hard disk encryption.
The security system can be organized, practically on any laptop, using USB-analogs of smart cards. The USB stick can store not only the password system but also security certificates and digital signatures.
The already mentioned StrongDisk Server package, like other advanced encryption systems, supports the use of such keys for user identification. It is enough to select the appropriate menu item in the settings.
Smart cards and USB keys are very difficult to counterfeit, but they can be stolen. To prevent access with a stolen card, a PIN code request can be enabled. To enter it, some laptop models are equipped with a special security panel. Usually, such a panel can work without smart cards, for example, as a BIOS password.
A simple (for the user) and at the same time, a reliable method of identification is using a fingerprint scanner. Some laptop manufacturers (IBM, ASUSTek, Samsung) build them into their models. The fingerprint works like a regular password when booting the system or when encrypting data. There are external devices of this type on the market, mainly with USB and PC Card interfaces. These can only work after loading the OS.
Invisible Threat
With the development of modern network technologies to access information, it is not necessary not only to steal a laptop but also to approach it. Computer viruses - worms and Trojans steal data unnoticed by the user. Maximum protection against virus technologies can be achieved by combining timely updated antivirus programs with firewalls, the so-called "firewalls" (from FireWall - "wall of fire"). Antivirus Software search for and destroy malicious programs on the disk, and firewalls prevent unauthorized data transfer to the network, allowing this operation only for user-defined processes. Working in wireless networks poses a separate threat to classified information. Special scanner programs are used to track unwanted wireless connections.
Let's Draw Conclusions
Modern means of protecting a laptop and its data, for all their simplicity and accessibility to ordinary users, can provide a very serious level of security. The main thing is to apply solutions that correspond to the degree of information security, never rely on only one tool and remember that the access restriction options are disabled by default on a new laptop.
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