Laptops Security Guide Tips to Prevent Data & Laptop Theft

Its not something which happens everyday but since many people now have online bank accounts, credit cards purchasing and ecommerce related transactions, its very important to make sure that the system you are working on right now is very much secured and you may not lose any of your financial data. In most laptops your important data is auto-stored into the browsers because thats the facility of the browser and you generally in order to save up some of your time, allow the browser to save all your personal inportant data and this is something which the hackers can easily gain. Its also very important to delete your history and memory cache regularly or on every time the browser restarts.

Using Biometric security :

Biometric security feature is a method in which the physiological & behavioral trend of the user is noted and based on these the person is given access to the computer. The physiological method includes face, fingerprint, hand, iris & DNA Checkouts out of which HP Laptops Veriface has already adapted services like face recognition & Fingerprint in their latest laptop series like Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 and Y510 along with Toshiba Notebooks in their models Satellite U400, Satellite M300, Satellite A300 and Satellite P300. If you are looking for a notebook with a built-in fingerprint sensor you can check out HP Pavilion dv3000 series, Gemstone Blue family from Acer with models like Aspire 6920g & 8920g, Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium, IBM Lenovo X300, Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV690, Sony VR Series like VGN-CR15, Dell E4200 & E4300, X410A-03 Laptop from HTC, Haeir T68.

Using a Secured Password :

Its general practice of using password like ‘Computer’, ‘12345′, ‘mypass’ etc and these can be easily hacked, try to use a real secure password which can be Alpha-Numeric and very hard to break into. Generally try to use password which are a mix of broken words rather than full names etc. Try to create your own password ideas based on your birth city or anniversay date like if your place of birth is new delhi, create a password like MPOBND[My Place of Birth New Delhi] something like this which anyone cannot ever get a idea about. May be a line from your favourite movie/song can also be used to create a secured tricky password. There are also many password generator tools to help you in creating secured passwords but the problem with these is that the created passwords are alpha-numeric and you need to write them down somewhere in order to remember them, but if you are building a password based on some of your favourite lines as i mentioned above you dont even need to store a copy of your password anywhere else and its almost impossible for anyone to break these passwords.

Clean your Browser’s Cache :

As i mentioned previously its very important to clean all your browsers stored information which could be cookies, your stored passwords , logins, personal information. If you are using IE check out the process to delete internet history and make sure you dont leave any important data on your laptops browser. Some websites try to gain these information directly from your browser though your installed antivirus software would generally check out these websites for virus/trojans/spywares along with the search engines which also generally give you a report about a website, but its always safe to remove any personal information on your computer’s browser.

Try to Avoid Instant Messengers :

Its generally recommended not to use instant messengers like Yahoo Messenger if you are not really chatting with someone on your list, because there have been many reports where users got access into others PC’s using Yahoo Messenger client and hence its not generally recommended using a IM Client and the web based messenger service would be far more better and secure. Another option is that these hackers try to send you some trojans/applications in the name of some important files and the moment you accept them, they get remote access into your PC, and this can lead into privacy problem along with important data loss.

Using Kensington Security Slot :

Most Latest laptop models are now equipped with a Kensington Security Slot which is a anti-theft system using which you can secure your laptop. its nothing but a small hole located in your laptops side section where in you can attach a lock & cable and make it impossible for someone to directly pick up your laptop and runaway. These locks are generally unlocked using keys or else PIN Devices. Apple Macbook has been a exception for this feature because all the laptop manufacturers started offering this security slot. The cable is generally very hard to cut but is possible using a wire cutter. You can find these kensington security slots in use in most malls and shopping places where the laptops & mobile phones are offered for display and demo purpose and these slots offers the store keepers the security from getting their products stolen and the wire cutters would also need a good amount of time to cut through these strong wires. In case of electronic locks the alarms are automatically ON the moment the device is removed from the slot. There have been some sucessful attempts to break open these highly secure locks using card board, check out the video here which clearly shows how a hacker uses just a small toilet paper’s card board and opens these strong locks.

Storing Important Files Securely Online :
If you have some word based document files which you need to update regularly its recommended to use highly secured services like google docs or email services like hotmail users can use Windows Live , yahoo’s yahoo breifcase services with 30Mb Storage Space etc. The advantage of using online backup tools is that you can always have a copy of your important data with secured data backup sites and not on a local computer which can get hacked at any moment. The Online Backup options not only offer security but also offers you to get access from any location when compared to your laptops which you cannot everywhere at times. The online services can be accessed using internet based mobile phones and you can update the files using multiple devices.

Password Protecting your Files & Folders :

You should always use password protection for your important files and folders. In case of word based documents you have a feature of adding password to your files after which no one can edit your document file without giving the right password. In case of securing your folders you should try to encrypt your data by Right Click the Desired Folder > Properties > Advanced > Encrypt contents to secure data > Apply > ok and this makes all your data in that folder secured. You can also use 3rd party applications like ‘Folder Lock’ to disable access to specific folders on your laptop’s hard disk drive and make sure only the admin can access it. You can use some of these softwares for the highest levels of data encryption : RoboForm, Advanced File Lock, AutoKrypt, Advanced Password Generator, My Secure Notepad & Crypturn.

Make sure you perform all the best security methods on time before you really lose your laptops and its not easy to recover a lost laptop or recovering the data which is stolen from your notebook. Its generally like the saying ‘A stitch in time saves nine’!