Tech Tools: Hard Drive Encryption

 

By Ricardo Harvin
E-mail Questions for Tech Tools to techtools@uschamber.com.

 

It's happened to government agencies, major retailers, and an unknown number of other organizations, and it could happen to you-sensitive information gone missing because of theft, fraud, or just plain carelessness.

 

Data loss has become such a highly publicized problem that state and federal lawmakers are considering legislation to establish or increase fines and other penalties against companies that fail to provide adequate levels of data protection.

 

If you're wondering what you can do to protect your customer information from being accessed by the wrong people-and potentially putting your business at legal risk-one answer is data encryption. In some cases, companies that can prove that lost data were encrypted could be exempt from many of the new fines or penalties under consideration in legislatures across the country.

 

Encryption is basically a way of locking data electronically so that only those who have the correct key can get to it. The most common type of key is a username/ password combination, but more advanced systems can require special devices to generate temporary access key codes or to check physical traits like fingerprints before unlocking access to your files.

 

Hardware and software companies are stepping up their efforts to provide easier encryption solutions. New data storage and software products coming on the market include built-in encryption technology, and many of them don't require the user to make the correct setting choices or ensure that protection is turned on.

 

In fact, unlike previous encryption solutions, some new products will secure all your data before they get written to the hard drive or to other storage devices like flash drives.

 

There are different levels of encryption strength. With strong encryption, it's harder to break the code, but accessing files can be slower than with minimal encryption. Using weaker encryption may make working with files a bit faster, but it also makes it easier for your data to be accessed and may not protect you from legal consequences if data are lost.

 

How a product works or the level of encryption it provides is irrelevant if you're not using it. Make the decision to start using encryption to ensure that your data are locked down tight and protected.