Laptop Security

"Increasingly, laptops lost or stolen result in identity theft, bad press and lawsuits. More than ever, smart organizations are investing in tracking and recovery software. MyLaptopGPS is a cost effective and complete solution."	Photo courtesy WMAQ NBC 5, Chicago "The headlines just don't stop: high-profile laptop theft after theft. Intelligent organizations see the risk and take action before it is too late. Irresponsible organizations ignore the risk and pay the price. We serve intelligent organizations."
Robert Siciliano Nationally-Acclaimed Security Expert IDTheftSecurity.com	Dan Yost Chief Technology Officer MyLaptopGPS.com

Shortcuts: The Seven Layer Salad of Effective Laptop Security MyLaptopGPS™ REDI™: Realtime Estimated Damage Index The Laptop Security Problem Laptop Security Digest Featuring Robert Siciliano Dan Yost Addresses the Chicago Teachers Union (publication) Dan Yost Addresses Oklahoma State University (free audio) Dan Yost Addresses the OCRA (free audio) Critical Laptop Security Tips Laptop Security Links

The Seven Layer Salad
of Effective Laptop Security
Principles and Best Practices for Effectively Securing Mobile Data Assets
In this technology white paper, MyLaptopGPS™ CTO Dan Yost outlines the troublesome state of laptop security and seven key practices that responsible organizations should implement.

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The MyLaptopGPS™ REDI™ Realtime Estimated Damage Index Year 2008 as of October 06 Publicized PCs Lost/Stolen: 976 units Number of Citizens Compromised: 2,565,340 data records Total Estimated Damage: $503,872,783   Estimate of damage incurred by high-profile laptop and desktop losses only. More REDI™ Information

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Laptop Theft is a Serious Problem

	"Thieves steal personal data of 26.5 million vets" - Sun Herald
	"Teachers Union President 'Furious' About Laptop Theft" [40,000 Chicago Teachers At Risk] - WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago
	"Fidelity Theft Endangers Client Data: Stolen Laptop Contains Info On 196,000 Retirement-Account Customers" - CBS News
	"Ernst & Young laptop loss exposes 243,000 Hotels.com customers" - The Register
	Another laptop is stolen every 12 seconds. - 2007 Projection, based on historical FBI statistics and estimates
	The average laptop theft results in a financial loss of $89,000. Only a small fraction of the loss is directly related to the hardware itself. - 2002 Computer Security Institute/FBI Computer Crime & Security Survey
	The value of the information in an average notebook is $250,000. - 2003 Annual Computer Crime and Security Survey
	According to a 2006 survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute, 80% of the 480 companies and government agencies it surveyed reported losing data through laptop theft--all in the past 12 months. The worse news is that an additional 10% of the companies queried did not even know whether they had lost data this way. Only 10% could safely say that they had not. - Robert Ellis Smith, forbes.com, 9/7/2006
	As many as 90 percent of missing company laptops house sensitive data, with a large percentage of these being noncompliant with California SB 1386's encryption data requirements. - October 2005 Report by CREDANT Technologies
	Even personal laptop computers typically contain sensitive, private personal information and irreplaceable files: bank information, passwords, photos, email, personal correspondence, etc.

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Laptop Security Digest
Featuring Renowned and Nationally-Acclaimed ID Theft and Laptop Security Expert Robert Siciliano, with Laptop Security Expert and MyLaptopGPS Chief Technology Officer Dan Yost
Laptop theft has reached epidemic proportions. FBI and insurance company estimates, which peg the theft rate at one laptop every 53 seconds (extrapolated to 12 seconds with updated data), are confirmed by almost daily headlines of high-profile laptop thefts.

News of the widespread loss of Commerce Department laptops since 2001--many assigned to the Census Bureau--has provided possible hints to explain the boom in identity theft seen these past few years, according to an authority in the field. Robert Siciliano, a personal security and identity theft expert, says the Commerce Department's revelation of more than a thousand laptops lost, together with previously publicized research and the theft of laptops from other firms, illustrates the need for companies to turn to real solutions such as MyLaptopGPS to curb the rate of laptops being irretrievably stolen or lost.

"When you lose more than a thousand laptops--many of them containing Census Bureau data--less-than-scrupulous individuals are bound to find the information useful," says Siciliano, who provides consumer education solutions to Fortune 500 companies and their clients. "With Census Bureau data in hand, the identity thief's puzzle is a particularly easy one to complete."

Research into the financial impact of laptop computer theft has suggested that the loss of just one laptop computer can cost as much as $90,000, or even more. These findings, available since 2002, further illustrate the gravity of report after report of stolen corporate laptops, and further cauterize the need for responsible organizations to implement real protection immediately, according to Siciliano.

"Organizations faced with lost data often incur fees including fines, credit monitoring for victims, public relations damage control, and class action litigation," he says. "Companies are only hurting themselves when they ignore the logical alternative to these costs: safeguarding laptops by equipping them with affordable MyLaptopGPS data protection and tracking technology."

MyLaptopGPS Chief Technology Officer Dan Yost puts the issue in perspective by looking at some simple numbers. In the case of the now-infamous Veterans Administration stolen laptop, which contained over 26 million vets' information, the VA was facing the cost of credit report monitoring for over 26 million people, a tab which would run into the billions annually. And that's just for one part of the recovery. "In the case of the VA, whether or not they actually would end up with a $3 billion annual cost merely for credit monitoring, the point is that our solution curbs the issue for less than $10. That's a whole lot fewer zeros than $260,000,000 (per month cost of credit monitoring)," says Yost.

Siciliano agrees, stressing once again that identity theft, corporate espionage, litigation concerns, public relations nightmares, fines, and host of other serious problems caused by lax laptop security are prevented very effectively by a highly advanced, highly available, highly affordable solution: MyLaptopGPS.

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Identity Theft: Picking That Perfect Peach
MyLaptopGPS Chief Technology Officer Dan Yost
Addresses 35,000 Members of the Chicago Teachers Union
April, 2007
MyLaptopGPS CTO Dan Yost was invited to address the members of the third largest teachers union in the United States, the Chicago Teachers Union, as a guest columnist in the member publication (Chicago Union Teacher). This invitation followed Mr. Yost's service to the CTU during the Chicago Public Schools laptop theft crisis in April, 2007, that left 40,000 current and former teachers vulnerable to identity theft.

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Laptop Security Today
MyLaptopGPS Chief Technology Officer Dan Yost
Addresses Faculty and Students at Oklahoma State University
December 7, 2006
MyLaptopGPS CTO Dan Yost was invited to address students and faculty at Oklahoma State University. Listen to his address here, in MP3 format.

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To download, you may need to right-click on "download" and then select "save target as," "save link as" or "save shortcut as," depending on your browser and media settings.

Would you like MyLaptopGPS CTO Dan Yost to speak at your seminar or company/organization event? Please contact us (here) to inquire. Availability is limited so please contact us far in advance of your event, if possible.

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Stopping the Data Leak
MyLaptopGPS Chief Technology Officer Dan Yost
Addresses the Oklahoma Court Reporters Association
March 2, 2007
MyLaptopGPS CTO Dan Yost was invited to address the OCRA at the Winter Seminar. Listen to his address here, in MP3 format.

========> [ Stream ]  or  [ Download ] <========
To download, you may need to right-click on "download" and then select "save target as," "save link as" or "save shortcut as," depending on your browser and media settings.

Would you like MyLaptopGPS CTO Dan Yost to speak at your seminar or company/organization event? Please contact us (here) to inquire. Availability is limited so please contact us far in advance of your event, if possible.

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Critical Laptop Security Tips

	NEVER leave a laptop unattended (in the open). Laptop theft is a crime of opportunity. Always keep the laptop at your side. If you are at the coffee shop, do not walk away, even for 30 seconds, and leave your laptop unattended. Thieves often have less than 30 seconds to make "a hit" on your laptop. They are good at it.
	NEVER leave a laptop stored in a parked car in plain view. Once again, laptop theft is a crime of opportunity. Breaking a car window and grabbing a laptop takes all of about 4 seconds.
	ALWAYS store a laptop in the trunk when storing in a vehicle--and note the remaining risk. Store your laptop in the trunk if you must leave it with the car. Heed storage temperature warnings from the manufacturer if extremely hot/cold temperatures are expected. Also note that some high-profile laptop thefts have occurred even with the laptop in the trunk. This indicates thieves who were watching the target and knew the laptop was concealed in the trunk.
	NEVER leave a laptop in an accessible area, such as a college dorm room, apartment, or hotel room, in plain sight. Unsuspecting laptop owners often leave their laptops in dorm rooms, apartments and hotel rooms, in plain sight and sometimes even without the door locked! Always keep the laptop out of sight. If you have a safe (many hotel rooms offer this now), use it.
	ALWAYS carry the laptop in a discrete bag/case, NOT readily-identifiable as a laptop bag. If possible, invest in a more general carrying bag or case for your laptop, as opposed to an obvious laptop bag. While cases/bags designed for laptops are indeed convenient, they also broadcast to potential thieves that you are carrying a nice target.
	ALWAYS lock doors, and lock the laptop machine itself if possible. If this seems like common sense...it is. Yet many laptop owners simply think their laptops will not be stolen, regardless of how careless they are.
	ALWAYS encrypt critical, sensitive information. Many encryption tools can dramatically slow the laptop's performance, so be careful and consider the needs. One disadvantage to total-drive encryption (encrypting the entire hard drive) is often performance loss. A disadvantage to partial-drive encryption (encrypting only special folders/files/areas) is that sensitive data is often accidentally placed outside the encrypted area. Peformance is imporant...but so is critical, private, sensitive data!
	ALWAYS install your operating system's latest updates. Being attacked from the network itself is an enormous risk in the Internet Age. Be absolutely certain to regularly update your computer's software with fixes issued by the vendor. Most major operating system vendors (Microsoft, Apple, Linux, etc.) provide automated services to keep your laptop up-to-date with security fixes.
	ALWAYS install anti-virus/anti-spyware and firewall software. Protect your laptop's integrity by installing software to detect and remove viruses and spyware. Examples include Norton Antivirus (by Symantec) and McAfee.
	ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings. For overall security, including your own personal safety, always pay close attention. Being absorbed in a book, cell phone call, personal music player, newspaper, or other distractions can give thieves significant opportunity to approach, study, and even strike. Look at the people around you, occasionally. Be alert.
	ALWAYS keep the shoulder strap on, or a strap wrapped around your arm, when travelling in crowds. Some laptop thefts occur as regular "muggings." As with a purse, keep the strap of your laptop carrying bag around your shoulder or looped around your arm for extra protection. This will also help prevent accidental loss or misplacement in a crowd.
	ALWAYS clearly and visibly mark the laptop, to warn potential thieves of trackability. Ever wonder why security alarm companies place a stand-up sign in your front yard when they install the alarm? It is not to advertise (though that is also a benefit). It warns potential thieves of RISK. Quite simply, The Sign Stops Crime. This is the same reason that Neighborhood Watch signs are posted near the entrances to neighborhoods. Your laptop must clearly, boldly and directly warn a potential thief "casing" an area that your laptop is not an un-marked, easy target (everybody else's laptop is). Thieves avoid marked property. MyLaptopGPS™ provides renowned, permanent SafeTags™ for precisely this purpose, in addition to complete police traceability.
	ALWAYS record the model number and serial number of the laptop and take photographs. Police investigators, the FBI, your insurance company, and others will want as much information as you can provide if a theft occurs. Be absolutely certain to record the model number, serial number, and purchase information about your laptop now, before it is too late. Take photographs of the machine. This is very important for all of your property, not just your laptop. All of this information, including photographs, can be stored directly in a MyLaptopGPS™ account online, using the SafeRegistry™ core capabilities built right into the system. The system can store a virtually unlimited number of property records for your possessions--not just your laptop.
	ALWAYS install MyLaptopGPS™ for global covert tracking and silent recovery/destruction of sensitive data. Get your data back. Delete it from the thief's possession. Track the machine. Do it all covertly. MyLaptopGPS™ has been designed for this very purpose.

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Laptop Security Links

	Identity Theft and Computer Security Expert Robert Siciliano IDTheftSecurity.com
	MyLaptopGPS™ Informational Video Video Link
	Video Footage of an Actual Laptop Theft Video Link
	Operating System vendor update sites Microsoft Windows Update Apple Updates (Downloads) Red Hat Linux Gentoo Linux Debian Linux
	Security Service Providers (including Anti-Virus and Firewall) Symantec (Norton Antivirus) McAfee
	United States Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) CERT Website
	Carnegie Mellon University CERT Internet Security Carnegie Mellon CERT Center
	FBI Tips for Safety, Including Children's Internet Safety and General Internet Safety FBI Website
	The Three US Credit Reporting Bureaus Equifax TransUnion Experian
	SANS Technology Institute SANS Website
	SecurityFocus SecurityFocus Website