Portable computers and data protection

If you have a portable computer and use it only at home, protecting the computer is no different from the protection of other computers. See Getting connected safely.

If you use the portable computer outside your home, it is important to remember a few things about protecting it:

• Make sure you have set a username and a password for the operating system so that others cannot log in to the system. Logging in is recommended also when you wake up the computer from sleep mode or screensaver.

• If needed, protect information on your hard drive by encrypting the information so that others cannot use the data if your computer is lost or stolen.
• If you use the computer on a public network, e.g. a public wireless network, make sure that the computer's firewall is active for all network interfaces. If possible, use a secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection to your workplace network.
• You can also set the computer to request the start-up password each time the computer is turned on.