The dearth of posts to this blog comes, sadly, as a result of the recent theft of my laptop from a local cafe here in Lima, Peru. While the loss of the hardware and some data was intensely annoying and inconvenient, it did highlight the need for data security for anyone working in an information services industry.
Lima is a ‘critical threat’ location for crime and the disappearance of my laptop is clear evidence of it. After dealing with the security of my own personal data, I gave some thought as to what might have happened if I had stored (and lost) information from a client. I certainly would have been obligated to inform the client of the loss and might have risked losing their business if the loss was of any potentially sensitive information. Since this wasn’t the case, I have now looked into ways of improving my data security for the future.
First, I am now (religiously) using the Keychain Access application that comes standard on all Mac OS machines. This application easily stores all of my sensitive data and can readily be configured with separate passwords.
Next, any sensitive data is now being stored in an encrypted disk image that is closed at the end of each working session on the machine. As an added layer of security, I am also investing in an external hard drive that is encrypted using hardware (i.e., physical key) encryption.
Third, since I want to have a higher confidence that my email communications are really being sent from my account, I obtained a personal email security certificate from Thawte. While I do not expect to be using heavy-duty encryption for my emails, I can sign each piece of correspondence to assure current and potential clients that a given email did originate from me.
Lastly, with my new MacBook Pro en route to me, I researched other security offers that will help protect my investment and, ideally, avoid such losses in the future. One vendor’s solution that seems to be perfect is a security tracking service from Xtool.com. If a laptop is stolen I suspect that the theives, or whoever ultimately ends up with the machine, will try to log onto the internet at some point. The Xtool service states that its software makes it harder to reformat the computer’s hard drive and also establishes a ‘stealth’ connection with the company’s servers when the stolen laptop connects to the internet. Using tracking tools, Xtool can help narrow the search and possibly provide the exact location of the stolen laptop.
Needless to say, I wish I had been a bit more proactive on the security of my laptop prior to its theft. I must conclude that the best lesson learned has been finding out more about what security services exist for laptops and the data on hard drives. Also, I am now able to clearly demonstrate to clients how their information is being protected so that their businesses are not at risk from the ‘critical threat’ of crime in Lima.