NORTH CAROLINA COMPUTER LAPTOP SECURITYCharlotte Observer | 09/19/2005 | How to keep your laptop securePosted on Mon, Sep. 19, 2005

How to keep your laptop secure

Consider buying insurance, back up your information, and lock up that computer while traveling

DAVID A. KELLY

The New York Times


It's hard not to experience anxiety when you're traveling with a laptop. A computer can certainly make life easier for travelers keeping an online travel journal, serial e-mailers and those who want to keep up with their jobs. But there are, as every laptop-toting traveler knows, numerous risks: accidental drops during security screenings, theft from a hotel room, loss in a taxi or restaurant or hardware failure from too many jolts.

"Laptops are great because you can take your entire office with you wherever you go, but you need to recognize that your entire office might be lost, stolen or damaged beyond use," said Ann Westerheim, president of Ekaru, a technology services company.

Perhaps the most important safety measure, Westerheim said, is protecting the information on your computer, so that if it is damaged, lost or stolen, the data remain safe. Travelers have many backup devices to choose from.

Beside storing your files and data on a removable CD or DVD disk, there are a variety of other portable storage devices. Particularly convenient are flash drives: small key-chain-size plastic devices that weigh only an ounce or so and plug into a computer's USB port (the port typically used for connecting printers and other peripherals). You can copy your e-mail files, documents, pictures or data files to the USB flash drive and can then keep the files with you or keep them in the hotel safe.

Of course, you want to protect the laptop itself, too. A variety of security-oriented devices like cables for attaching your laptop to something immovable (for example, the Kensington MicroSaver, $44.99 at www.kensington.com), or motion-detecting alarms (Targus PA400U Defcon 1, $49.99 at www.targus.com), help guard against theft.

But there are other approaches for reducing the risk and stress of taking your computer.

There is your hotel, for instance. Before booking a room, laptop owners should ask what size of room safe the hotel offers or if the front desk is willing to store a laptop in the office safe.

A few hotels have started offering larger safes. For example, the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., recently installed a specially designed laptop safe in every room that not only fits newer, widescreen laptops but also includes power outlets so guests can charge their computers while keeping them secure.

"You can also insure your notebook by adding it on to your homeowner's or renter's policy," said Brian Beeler, president of NoteBookReview.com.

In some cases, your homeowner's insurance policy will cover theft of laptops, with your deductible, if it's not being used for business. Safeware (www.safeware.com) offers insurance for notebook computers and includes coverage for accidental damage, theft, vandalism and other problems. The annual premium for a 3-month-old computer that cost $1,500 with no deductible was $90, based on a recent quote.

If you don't want to travel with a computer but need access to data, files or e-mail and have the use of a hotel business center or other Internet source, you can arrange to have your computer at home run a remote access program that's included in Windows XP or through a service like LogMeIn (www.logmein.com) which enables users to gain access to their PCs from any Web-connected computer.

And lowest tech of all, travelers can take an inexpensive precaution recommended by Robert Siciliano, a personal security and identify theft expert and president of SafeTravelSecurity.com. "I have all my contact information and a picture of me taped to the back of my computer," Siciliano said. "That way if I leave it somewhere, people can easily identify me and call or page me to retrieve it." Tony

Mecia Tony