Laptop security guidelines

As more and more companies entrust their employees with confidential, sensitive data on laptops, learn how to keep this data safe.

A laptop epitomizes convenient computer usage. You can carry it along, work on it anywhere and at any time, and connect it to public wireless networks to communicate with your office or home.

The downside of this is the attendant security hazards. Since people travel with their laptops outside office, others can access it; it’s not uncommon for laptops to get stolen either—many companies have lost sensitive information and confidential data this way. Using laptops on public wireless networks gives hackers ample opportunity to break into not only the machine, but also into the corporate network to which the machine is connected. In fact, when a laptop with wireless capabilities is connected to a wired network, it can allow hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the wireless setup to break into the wired network.

Here are five tips to ensure that your laptop and the data on it don’t fall into the wrong hands.

• Prevent physical access

As far as possible, you should avoid leaving your machine unattended when you’re outside office. You should also not let anybody use your machine, for however short a period of time, unless it is a co-worker who has legitimate reasons for doing so.

• Guard against spyware

Spyware is the prime cause of data theft from laptops and corporate networks that are accessed through infected laptops. You should not install any peer-to-peer (P2P) program or shareware on the laptop, as these are known to spread spyware. When you download anything from the Internet, be sure to read the End User License Agreement (EULA) carefully, to ensure that you are not downloading any spyware alongside. Pirated software is a way to get spyware on to your machine – stay away from them.

• Take regular backups

It is extremely important to take regular backups of the work you do on the laptop. Since the risk of hacker attacks over wireless networks and even physical theft of the laptop is higher, it becomes critical for you to backup the data frequently.

• Use full-disk encryption

Many encryption utilities, freeware and otherwise, enable you to encrypt the data on your hard drive and even on USB pen drives. Using encryption ensures that even in the worst-case scenario of your laptop getting stolen, the thief cannot access your confidential data.

• Use a firewall

A firewall, along with anti-virus and anti-spyware software, is very essential to a laptop, because you may be connecting to the Internet via public hot spots, which make your laptop more vulnerable to hacker attacks.