Whether travelling for work or pleasure, losing your laptop is stressful and time-consuming. The newest laptops and external drives are powerful, light, and thin enough to fit easily into the slenderest of carry-on baggage. This makes them easy to travel with, and easier to lose or have stolen.
Pay special attention to your laptop bag at airport security checkpoints, there thieves are aware of your possible heightened frustration level.
Always store your laptop in the seat in front of you, rather than in the overhead compartment when you fly.
Here are our top tips to help you secure the information on your laptop.
Protect your information
If you keep personal or financial information on your laptop, an operating system that provides file protection is a must.
To learn more, see Encrypt or decrypt a folder or a file (for Windows Vista) or Encrypt Your Data to Keep It Safe (for Windows XP).
Protect your laptop with a strong password
You should secure your laptop with a strong password while travelling. Check your computer's Help and Support service to learn how to add or change your system password.
To learn how to create passwords that are tough for hackers to crack, but easy for you to remember, see Strong passwords: How to create and use them.
Back up before you travel
Always back up the data on your laptop before leaving on a trip. The financial loss of your equipment some times cannot be avoided, but you can avoid losing all your information in the process.
Be careful what you store on thumb drives
With the growing popularity and increasing memory capabilities of small flash drives (known as "thumb drives" or "USB drives") comes a greater risk of information theft.
If you travel with a thumb drive, try not to us it for sensitive information storage. If the drive is lost or stolen anyone can access the information. If it is necessary to carry sensitive data on a thumb drive, consider investing in one that has thumbprint recognition. Thumb drives can also carry viruses, so remember to update the
antivirus software on your computer.
