If computer was stolen

vagg

vagg

New Member
Im just wondering what type of program is out there to protect a computer if it is stolen so someone would be unable to access your harddrive.

tks
 
Laptop? First line of defence is putting an ATA password on it (an option in the BIOS). Most people cannot break that. After that, encryption.
 
If your computer was stolen, they'd most likely just format it or switch out hard drives - it's a bit of trouble to steal someones identity. But yeah, putting a bios password is a start, also a Windows password.
But like I said, if someone stole your laptop (I'm assuming it's a laptop, right?) then they'd probably just format it or put in a drive etc..
 
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A ATA password is different from a BIOS password. This one is put on the harddrive itself and will follow the drive if you pull it out.
 
chrisalv14 said:
i'd say, Make sure you have a login username and password so when you turn your pc on. You have to enter it.
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No, it's as tytteboys says, The OP wants the hard drive inaccessible, any other way rather than an ATA password will allow the person who stole it to remove the hard drive, slave it to another machine and read the data.

All other password protection is for the OS/BIOS only.
 
I would say something different your OS password is not truly breakable unless format i read in a book and which i quote " I do not recommend setting the so called BIOS password. Thats an option in many PC Setup Programs where you can lock access to your PC at the hardware level... The problem with BIOS passwords is people forget them. To make Life easier, PC Motherboard manufacturers have made it simple to reset or work around the password, which effectively renders the thing useless... If you have forgotten the BIOS password check with the motherboard manufacturer to see whether a backdoor password is available. For example, the Phoenix-Brand motherboard has the backdoor password Phoenix. The time honored solution to resetting the password is to open the case and remove the motherboard battery" Troubleshooting and Maintaining your Computer for Dummies. Abridged by me. So see its not worth all the trouble of setting BIOS password. They can reformat the computer but they wont get anywhere because all of your info will be gone! Therefore having just stole a laptop thats like brand new and totally not worth it. You could always use go to my PC and hope the thief goes on to the internet wirelessly and Im not sure what you can do on go to my PC but could be interesting! LOL
 
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I use lowjack's corporate product, computrace at work for our laptops. I can remotely wipe drives with it.

Really, the only honest way is AES encryption with a strong password. Encrypted file systems have issues though and if you have any file system corruption good bye data. That is why I typically create a sparse image with AES encryption and keep private data in that disk image.
 
Basically safe to say dont leave your laptop anywhere they will get into it and get your data no true form of protection actually exists. There are ways but all have backdoors and ways to get around them. But as I mentioned before what could you do with go to my pc if your laptop in the thieves hands and your computer were linked and on the internet??
 
Well in reality, if anyone actually steals your laptop they will likely throw away your hard drive and purchase another
Unless you're some type of government official no one wants your damn data, everything is already on the web, no one is interested in your personal stuff (unless your hard drive was stolen in south africa or something :D)
 
tyttebøvs said:
I take that bet. I depends on what personal data that is. Some people store some rather private data that they do not want the entire world to see :)
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I keep all my tax return information in an encrypted disk image, which has my account info, my name, my address and my social security. I am not rich by any means but I have enough money that people may want to take what little I have.
 
yeah thats probably where all your porn is lol now you have to change it lol Thank you Dane Cook! Also these days they dont have to hack your computer to get your money!
 
ComputerHazard said:
yeah thats probably where all your porn is lol now you have to change it lol Thank you Dane Cook! Also these days they dont have to hack your computer to get your money!
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Maybe you are missing the point....

Sensitive data, one that is personal to you, is best kept in an AES encrypted disk image. If you work for a company on say patent law (my ex girlfriend is a patent lawyer) you are in direct competition with many other companies on getting your patent filed first.

Lets say the competition is getting pretty stiff and they hire someone to steal company laptops from the competitor to mine the data from it. Which, to be honest, is not really that far fetched. What happens when it gets stolen? Unless you keep that private data in an encrypted disk image, or encrypt your whole hard drive with a strong password, your data is open to anyone.

Physical access to a computer trumps all security.

That is just one example, think of engineers, law firms, government agencies, and so forth. There are plenty of reasons to keep your data private, with out it being porn.

Besides who downloads porn on their computer anyway? You can just stream it now, and that is a lot safer than downloading it. No physical files on your computer.
 
tlarkin said:
Lets say the competition is getting pretty stiff and they hire someone to steal company laptops from the competitor to mine the data from it. Which, to be honest, is not really that far fetched. What happens when it gets stolen? Unless you keep that private data in an encrypted disk image, or encrypt your whole hard drive with a strong password, your data is open to anyone.
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If you only encrypt a part of the disk, have you then taking into account that some programs might save a temporary file elsewhere? There is also the problem with unencrypted data appearing in paging files...

In such cases the thief will be using data recovery software also.
 
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