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I would like to use my notebook computer, which I travel with, to shop on line and fill out forms with personal information. Since notebooks are more subject to being stolen I worry about this information falling into the wrong hands of this happens. Am I correct in believing that anything I type on the computer, particularly my credit card number, expiration date, security code when placing an online order and any information such as SSN typed in a form remains on the hard drive permanently for someone with the knowledge to find? If that is the case how can I do these things securely?
I thought about encrypting the folders that where this information would reside but I don't know what the folders are. I could encrypt the entire hard drive. Does this have drawbacks. Of course I could password protect my computer at startup but I understand this is fairly easy to break.
If I encrypt should I use PGP or another program?
Thanks
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Secure My Notebook
#2
crazy4laptops 
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Posted 19 November 2010 - 04:50 PM
Notes for laptop travel, backpack or shoulder bag, never leave your laptop out of arm's reach, don't ever put your laptop into a checked bag on the plane, train, or bus. That is my secret for globetrotting with a laptop and DSLR cameras.
For security on a double level, remove the hard drive from your laptop until you reach your destination, put it in a secured/shock-free place, like a second bag/camera bag/briefcase.
Remove the drive whenever you leave your hotel room (hide the laptop) and put the drive it in the safe.
If you still don't feel secure after that, maybe you should try a more tourist/biz travel-friendly destination.
It all depends on the web browser, but most modern ones don't/should not cache submitted forms on secure webpages. I personally use firefox on all of my computers (Windows, Mac and Linux)
I would worry more about a keylogger/spyware/malware than a thief extracting info from a cached webpage.
Encrypt all sensitive files and keep them off of your computer when you travel. If you must have sensitive files, encrypt them using truecrypt- http://www.truecrypt.org/
For security on a double level, remove the hard drive from your laptop until you reach your destination, put it in a secured/shock-free place, like a second bag/camera bag/briefcase.
Remove the drive whenever you leave your hotel room (hide the laptop) and put the drive it in the safe.
If you still don't feel secure after that, maybe you should try a more tourist/biz travel-friendly destination.
It all depends on the web browser, but most modern ones don't/should not cache submitted forms on secure webpages. I personally use firefox on all of my computers (Windows, Mac and Linux)
I would worry more about a keylogger/spyware/malware than a thief extracting info from a cached webpage.
Encrypt all sensitive files and keep them off of your computer when you travel. If you must have sensitive files, encrypt them using truecrypt- http://www.truecrypt.org/
Even the experts started out as beginners
#3
drastic19
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Posted 19 November 2010 - 04:57 PM
neoflyer, on 19 November 2010 - 02:03 PM, said:
I would like to use my notebook computer, which I travel with, to shop on line and fill out forms with personal information. Since notebooks are more subject to being stolen I worry about this information falling into the wrong hands of this happens. Am I correct in believing that anything I type on the computer, particularly my credit card number, expiration date, security code when placing an online order and any information such as SSN typed in a form remains on the hard drive permanently for someone with the knowledge to find? If that is the case how can I do these things securely?
I thought about encrypting the folders that where this information would reside but I don't know what the folders are. I could encrypt the entire hard drive. Does this have drawbacks. Of course I could password protect my computer at startup but I understand this is fairly easy to break.
If I encrypt should I use PGP or another program?
Thanks
I thought about encrypting the folders that where this information would reside but I don't know what the folders are. I could encrypt the entire hard drive. Does this have drawbacks. Of course I could password protect my computer at startup but I understand this is fairly easy to break.
If I encrypt should I use PGP or another program?
Thanks
Defense in Depth- Your best bet is to provide layers of security for your notebook. First try to physically lock your notebook in areas where you may to step away from your system. Second create a strong password through the Bios> Pressing F2 while system is booting. Yes there are ways to get around this. Next create a strong password for your user account. Fourth, if your notebook has the feature implement Bitlocker Drive Encryption to encrypt the entire harddrive. Bitlocker encrypts the harddrive and every document you create is automatically encrypted. Your username and password is needed to decrypt the information so that is why I say strong password(lowercase, uppercase, numbers, symbols). (http://windows.micro...tures/bitlocker) Now as for online orders; deleting Browser History (cookies, web information etc) will help a little with that. As far as harddrive encryption (drawbacks)depending on the processor/speed of the system you may not notice much difference when logging into the operating system and opening encryted files.
#4
drastic19
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Posted 19 November 2010 - 05:01 PM
crazy4laptops, on 19 November 2010 - 04:50 PM, said:
Notes for laptop travel, backpack or shoulder bag, never leave your laptop out of arm's reach, don't ever put your laptop into a checked bag on the plane, train, or bus. That is my secret for globetrotting with a laptop and DSLR cameras.
For security on a double level, remove the hard drive from your laptop until you reach your destination, put it in a secured/shock-free place, like a second bag/camera bag/briefcase.
Remove the drive whenever you leave your hotel room (hide the laptop) and put the drive it in the safe.
If you still don't feel secure after that, maybe you should try a more tourist/biz travel-friendly destination.
It all depends on the web browser, but most modern ones don't/should not cache submitted forms on secure webpages. I personally use firefox on all of my computers (Windows, Mac and Linux)
I would worry more about a keylogger/spyware/malware than a thief extracting info from a cached webpage.
Encrypt all sensitive files and keep them off of your computer when you travel. If you must have sensitive files, encrypt them using truecrypt- http://www.truecrypt.org/
For security on a double level, remove the hard drive from your laptop until you reach your destination, put it in a secured/shock-free place, like a second bag/camera bag/briefcase.
Remove the drive whenever you leave your hotel room (hide the laptop) and put the drive it in the safe.
If you still don't feel secure after that, maybe you should try a more tourist/biz travel-friendly destination.
It all depends on the web browser, but most modern ones don't/should not cache submitted forms on secure webpages. I personally use firefox on all of my computers (Windows, Mac and Linux)
I would worry more about a keylogger/spyware/malware than a thief extracting info from a cached webpage.
Encrypt all sensitive files and keep them off of your computer when you travel. If you must have sensitive files, encrypt them using truecrypt- http://www.truecrypt.org/
Defintely a great strategy crazy4laptops. Taking the harddrive out of a laptop is very easy and could be done within a minute. Although you must ensure it does not get thrown around and possibly damaged.
#5
LincolnSpector
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Posted 20 November 2010 - 10:45 PM
Hi, Neoflyer.
Crazy and Drastic gave you some great advice. Now I'll add more.
The best tool for encrypting files, IMHO, is Truecyrpt. It allows you to create encrypted "vaults" into which you can store your sensitive data. When closed, one of these vaults is simply a file filled with gobbledygook. Open it with the password, and it's an extra drive on your computer that you can use like another hard drive or flash drive.
For storing passwords, I recommend Password Safe. Very strong, very safe, and it also helps you create very strong passwords. (Just don't forget your Password Safe password; if you do, you've lost all of them.)
Both programs are free.
One more piece of advice: Don't do anything really sensitive, like banking or purchasing, from a public WiFi location like a cafe. Only do that on an ethernet or secure WiFi network.
Lincoln
Crazy and Drastic gave you some great advice. Now I'll add more.
The best tool for encrypting files, IMHO, is Truecyrpt. It allows you to create encrypted "vaults" into which you can store your sensitive data. When closed, one of these vaults is simply a file filled with gobbledygook. Open it with the password, and it's an extra drive on your computer that you can use like another hard drive or flash drive.
For storing passwords, I recommend Password Safe. Very strong, very safe, and it also helps you create very strong passwords. (Just don't forget your Password Safe password; if you do, you've lost all of them.)
Both programs are free.
One more piece of advice: Don't do anything really sensitive, like banking or purchasing, from a public WiFi location like a cafe. Only do that on an ethernet or secure WiFi network.
Lincoln
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