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Across my desk this week came the story of the theft of a laptop computer and digital camera from a high school teacher’s locked filing cabinet, which brought to mind the fact that the physical security of our digital devices is just as important as having Internet security software. All of the antivirus/antispyware/anti-Internet-bad-guy software in the world won’t protect you from a clever thief stealing your laptop computer.

The fact that the locked filing cabinet containing the stolen merchandise had somehow mysteriously been unlocked was a source of confusion. Perhaps those that were confused by this situation had never heard of this thing called “the Internet,” for one need look no further than the Internet for the answer to their confusion.

Take, for example, the website howstuffworks.com. This is a fun website that explains, well, how stuff works. They have a page at home.howstuffworks.com/lock-picking.htm that gives a pretty good explanation of how lock picking is accomplished. This is one webpage out of thousands scattered across the Internet that explain lock picking skills. Lock picking is easy. I’ve picked locks before, just to see if I could. My daughter, now a college senior, was picking locks at age 12. In fact, I took a break while writing this article and tried picking a Master-brand padlock, just to see if I remembered how it’s done; even with my somewhat rusty lock picking skills, it only took me about 30 seconds to pop the lock. Are cheesy filing cabinet locks the only devices that school systems train teachers to use in protecting their expensive laptop computers? More importantly, is there any security training that takes place at all? Take a look at toolmonger.com/2007/02/08/reader-finds-dynos-kwick-pick/ to see how easy it is to pick the locks on filing cabinets. How could that filing cabinet have become unlocked? Duh.

For an idea of the many available devices designed to prevent laptop theft, take a look at security.kensington.com. Keep in mind that devices using tubular locks are harder to pick. Similar measures can be taken to secure desktop computers, such as physically bolting the computer’s case to a desk.

Files kept on a computer can often be more valuable than the computer itself. If there is any chance that your computer may be left unattended in an area where an unauthorized person can physically access it, you should password-protect the startup/logon screen. This way, your operating system will not allow access without a user name and password. You’ll also want to set the system to log you off or go into a password-protected screensaver mode after a certain period of inactivity. These measures can prevent someone from copying or changing files (or worse) behind your back. You should also set the system BIOS (basic input/output system) to boot only to the hard drive, and password-protect the BIOS, so your settings cannot be changed without your password. This can prevent savvy hackers from using a CD or flash drive to bypass your password. To further guard their files, astute computer owners will use a protection scheme called encryption, which will turn the contents of their files into a secret code which can only be decrypted by those who have a secret password or key. Encryption is considered by many to be the best form of data security.

If your computer breaks down or is stolen, do you have backup copies of your important files? What if there were a fire or other disaster that destroyed your computer files? Do you have backups in a secure setting, or would such a disaster also destroy your business? External hard drives are great for backing up important files, and are indispensable in the event of a serious computer crash, but if your backup hard drive is stolen or destroyed in the same disaster that kills your computer, well, there you are with no files at all. To guard against such catastrophes, consider online “off site” file backup solutions, such as those offered by mozy.com. I use Mozy. I’ve found their service easy to understand, and consider it to be cheap insurance against “the unthinkable,” which, in our computer-filled world, often turns into reality.