How many millions of lost and stolen records will it take before encryption is turned on by default for all portable computers and media? EFS is free on Windows. Linux and Unix have open source TrueCrypt. And there are dozens of great commercial solutions. There is no excuse for any professional organization, the least of all auditors, to have portable data unencrypted. It's negligence. Sadly, a few judges have How many millions of lost and stolen records will it take before encryption is turned on by default for all portable computers and media?EFS is free on Windows. Linux and Unix have open source TrueCrypt. And there are dozens of great commercial solutions. There is no excuse for any professional organization, the least of all auditors, to have portable data unencrypted. It’s negligence.Sadly, a few judges have ruled that many of our national guidelines for data protection stored in private companies don’t absolutely require encryption to be used. The guidelines often say that “…customer data needs to be adequately protected…”, but doesn’t require encryption.I say when your plaintext data is stolen or lost, it shows the data was not adequately protected! Does someone have to steal and use all of Congress’s personal data for there to be serious data protection laws (instead of all the pointless hearings and counterproductive, competing, watered down leglislation)? Related content analysis The 5 types of cyber attack you're most likely to face Don't be distracted by the exploit of the week. Invest your time and money defending against the threats you're apt to confront By Roger Grimes Aug 21, 2017 7 mins Phishing Malware Social Engineering analysis 'Jump boxes' and SAWs improve security, if you set them up right Organizations consistently and reliably using one or both of these approaches have far less risk than those that do not. By Roger Grimes Jul 26, 2017 13 mins Authentication Access Control Data and Information Security analysis Attention, 'red team' hackers: Stay on target You hire elite hackers to break your defenses and expose vulnerabilities -- not to be distracted by the pursuit of obscure flaws By Roger Grimes Dec 08, 2015 4 mins Hacking Data and Information Security Network Security analysis 4 do's and don'ts for safer holiday computing It's the season for scams, hacks, and malware attacks. But contrary to what you've heard, you can avoid being a victim pretty easily By Roger Grimes Dec 01, 2015 4 mins Phishing Malware Patch Management Software Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe