Laptop Security:
The information technology (IT) environment has changed significantly in a few short years, as several factors have dictated the need for a more robust approach to corporate security policies, including:
1) A trend towards laptop security and mobility of information, 2) Theft of IT assets arising from a proliferation of mobile devices, 3) Increasing data privacy and data security concerns, and 4) Regulatory compliance mandated by recent legislation.
These factors have made it necessary for laptop secure network administrators to design and implement comprehensive security policies to keep pace with the changing IT landscape. Effective laptop security solutions for these multifaceted problems require a layered approach comprised of products, policies and procedures that can work in concert to provide organizations with the broadest security blanket available.
There is a strong relationship between the issues of laptop security compliance, data protection and theft recovery. Organizations must take this into account when defining laptop security policies. It is no longer enough to attempt to address compliance issues without addressing Laptop Security data protection. Protection of data on mobile and remote computers requires an understanding of the issues surrounding computer theft. Having a broader understanding of how these areas inter-relate allows organizations to build a more robust security policy that can better address the issues of regulatory compliance, data protection and theft recovery.
Today, accepting the loss or theft of one laptop or tablet PC is simply not an option. A missing computer can result in compliance and data protection issues that may be very costly to an organization's reputation and bottom line. Organizations need to be able to accurately track their computers, know who is using them, what is installed on them, and be able to prove the actions taken to secure computers remain deployed and intact until the computer can be located.
Power Of Mobuility in Laptop Security
The power of mobility afforded by laptop computers has meant that tremendous flexibility and productivity has become the standard of business for most information workers. Mobility means being able to perform professional corporate presentations while visiting clients; update a budget while traveling on business; or even stay connected to the office while on vacation to audit activities, prevent unwanted surprises and minimize an e-mail backlog. But for IT executives and managers, mobility brings new challenges in the areas of corporate security and information privacy.
Portability At The Cost Of Laptop Security And Vulnerability:
- Companies continue to issue more laptop secure computers computers to employees as replacements for their desktop computers. By May of 2005, laptops accounted for 53.3 percent of the total PC retail market.1
- Vast volumes of corporate information are now delivered and stored electronically.
- Hard drive storage capacity continues to grow - increasing the quantity of information being stored locally -and increasing the amount of information at risk.
The loss of a single laptop poses a serious risk to a corporation: proprietary information, personal data and trade secrets can fall into the wrong hands. Moreover, for licensing and compliance purposes, IT managers need to know where their assets are, who is using them, and what software and information is residing on them. According to the Gartner Group (2002), most organizations can only account for about 60 percent of their mobile assets - meaning the remaining 40 percent risk falling into the hands of anyone, anywhere, at any time.
While the largest store of sensitive information typically resides in an employee's laptop e-mail inbox, other areas include proprietary information contained in corporate data, contact lists, modern unified messaging systems (such as digitized faxes and voicemails) and unencrypted file folders. Beyond the risk of exposed data, the greatest concern is often the unsecured enterprise access available through an ineffective corporate laptop Security policy.
To deliver on the value and promise of mobility, IT departments routinely deploy a range of access points and methodologies, such as remote data connections to VPNs or web access for enterprise systems. An unscrupulous individual can often access many of these systems simply by accessing an employee's laptop security computing. To learn More about Laptop Security visit Network World.
