Most genealogists tote a laptop around with them while doing their genealogy research. That laptop has a lot of important stuff on it – like “your life.” So it’s a good idea to always keep its security in mind. The following excerpt is from an article by Gina Trapani found at harvardbusiness.org.
When you’re working offsite, whether at a client’s office or the local coffee shop, [or the Genealogy Library] you’ve got to protect your laptop, whether from physical theft or the nosy cyber-snoop who’s trying to flip through your iTunes library (or worse). While your company has probably provided you with a VPN to securely connect to their internal network, what about your personal passwords and local files? Let’s take a look at a few good habits to get into for safe laptop computing, and then some more advanced tactics.
The Basics: Best Practices
Every laptop user should have a healthy paranoia about the possibility of getting their notebook stolen or hacked while they’re using a public Wi-Fi network at the airport or coffeehouse. Stay circumspect and use some of the tools built into your notebook’s operating system to keep yourself safe.
See Gina’s nine things you should do to be sure your data is secure in the October 5, 2009 edition of harvardbusiness.org
