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Remove All Sensitive Data from Laptops

Lately there are many cases of government or company laptops being stolen or lost. Sensitive information stored on these computers is getting away and can easily fall into the wrong hands. Of course this data should be carefully encrypted. But what was it doing there in the first place? Should it be allowed to keep so much confidential information on these laptops? Is it really necessary?

Avivah Litan, a security analyst for Gartner Inc. says: "It`s pure laziness. There`s actually no excuse for it. There`s no good business reason for it." Litan suggests that companies keep their private data only on secure servers, which can be accessed by the workers only from the office or over private Internet connections. The workers should not save the data on their own computers. In case of an urgent need to analyze data out of the office, the workers should replace the real figures with random "dummy" ones.

The major reason for the problem of sensitive data floating away with laptops is companies` delay in accepting just how important the information is. Otherwise it would have been treated like market intelligence, product designs, and other business secrets that are not allowed to leave the secure central computers. As for now, it is not at all obvious whether this problem will ever be eliminated.