More of the same (laptop thefts)
Here we go again (how many times do I have to write this same line?); this time the stolen laptop contains the data of some 72,000 people with ties to Stanford University - students, faculty, and staff members. And guess what? There's reason to believe the data wasn't encrypted.
Of course - according to Jaikumar Vijayan's Computerworld article - the university announced that they doubted the laptop had been stolen in order to get at the data it contained. Nevertheless, I'm pretty confident that the faculty and staff aren't any less bothered that their addresses and salaries (amongst other data) could become public knowledge.
I'm not saying the Stanford laptop wasn't encrypted (an investigation is still ongoing), but for all other laptop users out there, what's it going to take to start encrypting your data? Don't these folks hear about these laptop thefts? Maybe it's just us folks who read this sort of computer related material who find out about these thefts, but even so, if companies and/or institutions are allowing employees to transport laptops (isn't that a laptop's reason for being?) then they should ensure that the data contained within it is protected thoroughly.
Free Insider Guide