- How-To Booklet
- 1. How to protect your computer from malware and hackers
- 2. How to protect your information from physical threats
- 3. How to create and maintain secure passwords
- 4. How to protect the sensitive files on your computer
- 5. How to recover from information loss
- 6. How to destroy sensitive information
- 7. How to keep your Internet communication private
- 8. How to remain anonymous and bypass censorship on the Internet
- Glossary
- Hands-On Guides
- Avast - anti-virus
- Spybot - anti-spyware
- Comodo - firewall
- KeePass - secure password storage
- TrueCrypt - secure file storage
- Cobian - backup
- Undelete Plus - file recovery
- Eraser - secure file removal
- CCleaner - temporary file removal
- Riseup - secure email service
- Pidgin + OTR - secure instant messaging
- VaultletSuite - secure mail client
- Thunderbird + Enigmail - secure mail client
- Firefox - Web browser
- Tor - anonymity and circumvention
- portable security
2. How to protect your information from physical threats
Submitted by amir on Thu, 11/20/2008 - 12:36.
No matter how much effort you have put into building a digital barrier around your computer, you could still wake up one morning to find that it, or a copy of the information on it, has been lost, stolen, or damaged by any number of unfortunate accidents or malicious acts. Anything from a power surge to an open window to a spilt cup of coffee might lead to a situation in which all of your data are lost and you are no longer able to use your computer. A careful risk assessment, a consistent effort to maintain a healthy computing environment and a written security policy can help avoid this type of diaster.
Background scenario
| Shingai and Rudo are an elderly married couple with many years of experience helping the HIV-infected population of Zimbabwe maintain access to proper medication. They are applying for a grant to purchase new computers and network equipment for their office. Since they live in a region that is quite turbulent, in terms both of politics and of infrastructure, they and their potential funders want to ensure that their new hardware will be safe, not only from hackers and viruses, but also from confiscation, thunderstorms, electrical spikes and other such disasters. They ask Otto, a local computer technician, to help them devise a plan of action to strengthen the physical security of the computers and network hardware they plan to buy if their grant application is successful. |
What you can learn from this chapter
- More about a few of the physical threats to your computer and to the information stored on it
- How best to secure computer equipment against some of these threats
- How to create a healthy operating environment for computers and network equipment
- What to consider when creating a security plan for the computers in your office