FORBES ARTICLE ON COMPUTER SECURITY Forbes.com: PluggedIn: Going mobile on a PC is risky business Another way to protect yourself from would-be data thieves is to use your own finger as an identifier. Targus, Toshiba and Sony Corp.<6758.T> sell fingerprint readers for about $150 to $200 that plug either into a PC card spot or into the USB port.

In addition to concerns about protecting data that could be sensitive for a corporation, there's an increasing emphasis on protecting personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account information and personal finances.

"We're seeing a lot of identity theft out there," said Bradley Lide, president of CyberAngel in Nashville, Tennessee.

The company has encryption software that creates a secure drive that is protected by a password and essentially hidden from the view of any hacker. "It's very covert and behind the scenes," Lide said.

If the user enters the wrong password several times and then is connected to the Internet, the company will locate the computer through its Internet protocol address, information that can help law enforcement agencies recover the computer, Lide said.

It's a little like LoJack -- the car security system that tracks down and recovers stolen vehicles -- for your computer.