THAILAND SECURING COMPUTERS AGAINST DATA THEFT http://www.bangkokpost.com/gadget/gadget.php?id=447

Gadget News & Review

Biometrics and encryption: Securing a laptop against data theft

By Sven Appel, dpa

Hamburg - There are few greater hassles for computer users than the loss of a laptop - whether it was stolen from the airplane or left lying in a bus. Yet in many cases, the data contained in the machine is considered more valuable than the computer itself. One way to ease these concerns is to take steps to make data inaccessible to third parties.  

Users of Windows XP and Vista can take advantage of the Encrypted File System (EFS) - but only for individual files and folders. That is a manageable hurdle for hackers. Apple's Mac OS operating systemoffers the program FileVault, but that only protects the directories of individual users. 

The Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Vista do offer Bitlocker, which encrypts the drive on which the operating system is installed. Data and folders on other partitions can only be protected via EFS, however, and the file with the "keys" for EFS is situated on the drive protected by Bitlocker. 

Unauthorized access is best fended off through two approaches: restricted access and encryption. Access restriction in turn should have two components, says Guenther Ennen from the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI) in Bonn. The first should query the user for a characteristic such as a fingerprint. The second tests the knowledge - a password. 

Many laptops come equipped with fingerprint sensors. Daniel Bachfeld of the Hanover-based c't magazine doesn't think much of them, though: "They can be fooled." Ennen deems it possible but quite complicated. What's more disturbing is that there are products on the market that don't work at all: c't tested USB sticks with fingerprint sensors and found that some offered no protection at all. 

A password query when the system is booted up is a sensible compliment to this. Dell, for example, offers a system password for the models in the Latitude series. "Without the correct password the computer shuts back off," says Marcus Reuber from Dell's Frankfurt offices. As the password alone offers no complete protection, a chip encrypts the data on the Latitude hard drive before storing it. 

Not all laptops offer that much functionality. There are however several programs for current operating systems. Some are free, such as TrueCrypt. Current version 5.0a is available for Vista and XP, Mac OSX and Linux. It creates virtual encrypted drives and encrypts partitions or storage media like USB sticks. Even if thieves remove the hard drive to read out the data using a different computer, TrueCrypt offers a solution: the Windows System Partition can be encrypted so that the user must authenticate even before it boots. 

PGP also offers software for encryption. PGP Whole Disk Encryption can completely encrypt laptop and PC hard drives as well as removable storage media. The program, available for 141 dollars, supports Vista, XP and Mac OS X 10.4 and higher. Utimaco is offering SafeGuard Easy - and for private use SafeGuard PrivateCrypto for cost-free download. They only allow for the encryption of individual files, however. 

It's wise to educate yourself before settling on a given piece of software, Ennen recommends. The internet has plenty of forums for other users to express their experiences with the different solutions. Another important factor is patches for any security holes that are revealed. Users must also ensure that the system is kept up to date through updates or else the encryption may lose its effectiveness as well.