In Depth

How to Keep Portable Data From Escaping

Laptop and handheld computers are easy to carry around...and just as easy to steal or lose. Here's a buyer's guide to options for protecting the data they hold.

By Sarah D. Scalet

Whatever options you choose, though, don't forget the least expensive risk-reduction method of all: not putting sensitive information on portable devices in the first place. At UPS—which is now evaluating its encryption options for 20,000 of its laptops—management embarked a couple years ago on an enterprisewide quest to remove Social Security numbers from all kinds of documents except in cases where they were absolutely necessary, like for processing payroll.

"We eliminated the use of [Social Security numbers] in hundreds if not thousands of places," says Randolph Smith, a manager of information security. "All it required was a behavioral change. We have much less risk, and we have fewer things to worry about, at very little expense."

Other stories by Sarah D. Scalet

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