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Hey I was wondering about Lojack on my Dell. It seems like a great way to protect sensitive data. My Dell Laptop has Absolute's Computrace Module on the BIOS but I disabled it b/c I read about how the company is able to see private files on my compute, although i now don't know how much more important this is compared to tracking down my computer if it were stolen. I was wondering if i could still install the software and it work without the hardware side of the service working, and if so i have another question. Couldn't someone then just wipe the harddrive or reinstall windows or i heard it doesn't work on non-windows OS's, so then install say ubuntu or something and connect to the internet no problem. Cool, that's all for now, Hey great work, much appreciated. Thanks, Blaze
Posted by: Blaze at November 4, 2007 8:36 PMI think Truecrypt has limitations - not above 100 MB. I find deslock easy to use, without any limitations and is free.
Posted by: Alexandere Lancy at April 27, 2008 5:04 PM-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
It may have limitations, but that's not one of them. I have
a 16 gigabyte TryeCrypt volume on my 32gig thumbdrive.
Leo
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FdP4MOj5s8DALpFilaeC71I=
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while the suggestions others made are good ones (using "live CD's" etc) I have to go with Leo on this one..
Truecrypt is practically the industry standard for any pc techs in the know.. it being Open Source *to me* means it is more trustworthy as far any possible "backdoors or backdoor keys" being built in or handed over to the NSA or Big Brother, seeing as how you can check the code yourself..(or anyone else) its offers very fast on the fly encryption in various forms as well as multifactor authentication.. ie, you can set it up so it needs both a password and a keyfile (or as many keyfiles as you wish) to unlock its goodies)
the keyfile can be any file you choose, anything, even an mp3..or let truecrpt randomly generate one.. -on the laptop itself or on separate media (USB key, CD etc) for added protection..
you can encrypt the whole drive or create an "opaque" file that is mounted as another drive letter, -which can easily be burned/copied to external media.. it also allows you to combine encryption algorythms if want to go crazy. although you will take a little more of performance hit doing that.
Trucrypt limits the volume size to a max of 1 Petabyte. -which i'm sure is all you'll need for the time being. -so no worries there.
personally, i'd just keep sensitive data on two USB keys (or smart cards such as those used in cameras and the like) and leave the rest of the laptop unencrypted. -thats your call.
Trucrypt also has "Traveler Mode" for USB keys so you can carry any important data on just a the key itself.
what this mode does is allow the USB key to be a become a fully self-contained, plug-in, on the fly encrypt/decrypt hardware device. -that leaves no foot prints. -you could combine this with a say, a "Live CD" Ubuntu distro on a bootable high-speed USB key for the ultimate easy "ready to boot" secure "traveling O/S" that you can plug into any USB 2.0 port..
lastly, Truecrypt volumes contain no volume headers of any kind and truly look like a bunch of random noise (gibberish).. cant prove there is anything there..for those who need a bit more discretion than the average joe..
Research it for yourself. you'll find many industry heavyweights using it. -combine it with a virtual machine for added fun.. :)
btw: if you want to learn more about PC security, give steve gibson's Security Now podcasts a listen. -over at grc.com.
if you cant make an informed decision after getting schooled by him, well..
-soundwash
Posted by: Soundwash at June 3, 2008 10:32 PMTrueCrypt doesn't work from a usb drive unless you have admin access to the PC. This rules it out for me as most corporate PCs I use (and public ones) don't allow admin access.
Any decent alternatives?
Yes, the device driver either requires administrator privileges or an administrator must have already installed TrueCrypt making it accessible to all users.
But are you really saying you want to open your sensitive encrypted data on a system where you don't know who the administrator is? A system that might have been compromised with spyware or what not before you even got to it?
It just doesn't seem like a good thing do to, in my opinion.
All that being said, perhaps http://sourceforge.net/projects/tcexplorer/ might be an option.
-Leo
>> But are you really saying you want to open your sensitive encrypted data on a system where you don't know who the administrator is? A system that might have been compromised with spyware or what not before you even got to it?
Fair comment, but I work in a variety of universities & companies, I need access to my data while there and very few allow admin access!
I'll look at tcexplorer - thanks
S
you can keep it secure by installing a security software.
you can get it from http://www.inspice.com
The best way is to install winsesame :
the address is http://www.winsesame.com
It is very safe and easy to use.
Rick,
I have a need for serious data security. Is there a program that would automaticly wipe clean my hard drive if say..I dint log in every 2 hours. Is there something that will allow me to call from a cellphone and activate the program that would WIPE my hard drive. By wipe I mean NEVER be able to recover the data or for that matter use the laptop again at all.
12-Dec-2008
You can also use the BIOS option of providing a password to your hard drive - this keeps honest but nosy people out and is much more difficult to "break" than a Windows password.
Posted by: Dr. PC at January 28, 2009 8:26 AM
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