I lost my laptop!

[interested]

If it's a Mac then this is pretty good for recovering a stolen laptop. I imagine there's a PC equivalent.

[vetran]

Faster laptop and software encrypt all data, remove cert from drive. Some problems with chkdisk in a crash etc but its worth it.

Back up to encrypted drive at home.

As Threaded mentions the Seagate drives are worthy of consideration.

Companies are starting to take this seriously and you need to keep up to industry standards.

[BoredBloke]

After last week I'm saying nothing on the matter

[pickle]

I would suggest going straight from work to the pub is quite a good work/life balance

[Limited]

Keep data on a USB drive. A small one will fit in your pocket. Could still be lost though, if you try hard.

Or keep it on the network, use wifi and data cards, and VPN.

Or keep it on the network and carry a fresh copy on a USB stick if you need to (if it'll fit), but not the original.

Or strike a better work/life balance by not taking it home.

I suppose that "- Only carry database backups that client expressly agreed in writing to taking, acknowledging the risk of losing it" is the professional way to do it. And fair: let them decide whether they want you to take data storage offsite. If so, they take the risk. If not, you don't work so much.

I actually may go to 3 different clients during the same week so I need all this stuff on my laptop

I thought about USB drive but definately more likely to lose - and performance problems running databases from there

I would suggest going straight from work to the pub is quite a good work/life balance

I checked my PI insurance and was actually surprised to see that I would still be covered even if I was so drunk that I forgot I had a laptop with me. I expected some exclusion in there

[threaded]

Well, what a co-incidence. I've been a beta-tester for Seagates' Momentus drives for quite some time and they went on sale this Monday.

You won't realistically find a more secure solution.

[Euro-commuter]

last night in the back of a cab but by some miracle it turned up.

Had half an hour of panic that I don't want to have again. I'm carrying fairly confidential info on there about clients and a couple of databases which would have been very very bad to lose. The clients would have been far from happy

What does anyone else do? Eg
- Some software to protect the hard drive? Which software? Would I need to reinstall everything?
- Only carry database backups that client expressly agreed in writing to taking, acknowledging the risk of losing it
- Take my own steps to hash some of the data in these databases - maybe in consultation with client
- Some sort of insurance to cover the loss (and the resulting lost business?)
- Not ever be drunk in charge of a laptop (not really practical and not guaranteed)
- Or just not worry about it until it happens


thanks

Keep data on a USB drive. A small one will fit in your pocket. Could still be lost though, if you try hard.

Or keep it on the network, use wifi and data cards, and VPN.

Or keep it on the network and carry a fresh copy on a USB stick if you need to (if it'll fit), but not the original.

Or strike a better work/life balance by not taking it home.

I suppose that "- Only carry database backups that client expressly agreed in writing to taking, acknowledging the risk of losing it" is the professional way to do it. And fair: let them decide whether they want you to take data storage offsite. If so, they take the risk. If not, you don't work so much.

[Kyajae]

last night in the back of a cab but by some miracle it turned up.

Had half an hour of panic that I don't want to have again. I'm carrying fairly confidential info on there about clients and a couple of databases which would have been very very bad to lose. The clients would have been far from happy

What does anyone else do? Eg
- Some software to protect the hard drive? Which software? Would I need to reinstall everything?
- Only carry database backups that client expressly agreed in writing to taking, acknowledging the risk of losing it
- Take my own steps to hash some of the data in these databases - maybe in consultation with client
- Some sort of insurance to cover the loss (and the resulting lost business?)
- Not ever be drunk in charge of a laptop (not really practical and not guaranteed)
- Or just not worry about it until it happens


thanks

Get some professional indemnity insurance! If what you had was that precious (data and/or laptop) don't be surprised if a client goes after you. It has happened to one guy I know.

Now we have Vista, we have that great BitLock software to protect the drive. (Yeah, right!) So look for a good reputable third party drive locker.

Or, if your laptop has an easily removable drive caddy, remove it and keep it separate whilst in transit.

[Limited]

last night in the back of a cab but by some miracle it turned up.

Had half an hour of panic that I don't want to have again. I'm carrying fairly confidential info on there about clients and a couple of databases which would have been very very bad to lose. The clients would have been far from happy

What does anyone else do? Eg
- Some software to protect the hard drive? Which software? Would I need to reinstall everything?
- Only carry database backups that client expressly agreed in writing to taking, acknowledging the risk of losing it
- Take my own steps to hash some of the data in these databases - maybe in consultation with client
- Some sort of insurance to cover the loss (and the resulting lost business?)
- Not ever be drunk in charge of a laptop (not really practical and not guaranteed)
- Or just not worry about it until it happens


thanks