Physical Computer Security
Physical Computer Security Measures
In this article, we’re going to take a look at physical security measures for both your laptop and desktop PC. All the internal security in the world won’t help you if your computer is physically stolen.
Laptops are stolen the most from airports, out of vehicles, and even out of offices. If you go through airport security often, you should use a unique notebook case to avoid mixups. Get a case that's bright and stands out. You may also want to add some of that colour to your notebook as well by purchasing a bright coloured laptop or add some stickers to make it stand out. There are a few precautions you can take to help protect either your personal information or confidential company business data. The first thing that we would recommend is to make frequent backups and keep them in a secure place. You should also have good encryption in place so that if your data gets into strange hands that it will take a while to decrypt your files. It’s also a good idea to put a label with your name and contact number on your laptop so that if it’s found by an honest individual that they may contact you. Secondly, invest in a laptop lock that you can take with you and also to anchor it to your office desk. As long as you use it, then it’s a great deterrent. They also sell these locks with alarms that go off if the cable is cut. Another great security gizmo is a USB key that must be inserted to access your hard drive or access your CD-ROM. Some of these keys also provide strong encryption as well. Last but not least, you can purchase computer-tracking software that will not only locate your stolen unit when it attempts to access the Internet but will also tell you where it is and wipe the hard drive clean.
Desktop PC’s can and should be locked down with a PC security cable, which has a few benefits. The first one is that a PC security cable will help when a thief is trying to grab things quick in a smash and grab as it may seem too time consuming to bother with cutting the cable. In most cases, PC security cables are made from aircraft quality steel which makes breaking it more difficult. A PC security cable can also help avoid the office switch-a-roo in the case that a co-worker feels that you may have the better PC or a technician grabs your PC as a temporary weekend replacement for another employee. In the office, it’s wise to check out their security policy first but if you can lock it down then do it.
Hopefully, this article gave you a few more ideas on protecting your hardware and data.
Until next time....Live to Surf...Safely
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