Let’s face it, computers, phones, and tablets are hackable. Microsoft, Apple, and Google all have Zero Days (fatal security flaws) that talented hackers and state-sponsored organizations can use to get anything they want off of your devices.
The only real protection we have is Device Encryption.
Encryption is our only way of ensuring that we are the only ones able to access and read a device.
The only problem with encryption is that once you un-encrypt a device (which you will have to do in order to use it) then everything becomes accessible again.
So what that basically means, is that the only time encryption has any real value is when you have something stolen. As soon as that device gets turned on you will be presented with a request for the encryption password.
If you don’t have the encryption key (password) for a device, then no amount of brute force or cleverness will get you past the login screen.
Passwords on a computer are great but as soon as you pull the hard drive and plug that drive into a new computer, those files can be copied or opened as if there was no security ever there. If however, that hard drive was encrypted, then the files would be unreadable.
Encryption is key for laptops because these are the devices most likely to go missing.
Stolen Laptop without encryption = Files easily opened
Stolen Laptop WITH encryption = Files unreadable
How does encryption work exactly?
How encryption basically works is that all the information on a drive is re-written into gibberish. The only way to read the gibberish is with a key, a key that un-giberrishes it and makes it readable again.
With the encryption key to make the data readable, all you have is illegible unreadable gibberish; Imagine Pig-Latin times a billion.
So if you have a laptop or any device that needs to be theft-proof, you need to encrypt it.
There are several programs and tools that will do this, so if you want to learn more just give us a call or email us and we can go over your options in more detail.
