Personal Security and Identity Theft Expert Says Laptop Security Products Must Provide All-in-One Functionality
Robert Siciliano says smart organizations are equipping their portable computers with the best laptop security systems, all-in-one technologies that employ Internet-based GPS tracking as well as functionality that allows remote recovery and deletion of data.

/Computer Trades News Articles/ - BOSTON, MA, November 06, 2006 - (IDTheftSecurity.com) As research continues to reveal the high cost of laptop computer theft, the high technology industry is responding with novel ways to secure lost machines and recover the data on them. According to Robert Siciliano, a personal security and identity theft expert, smart organizations are equipping their laptops with the best of these offerings, all-in-one technologies that employ Internet-based GPS tracking as well as systems for remote recovery and retrieval of data.

Siciliano, president of IDTheftSecurity.com, provides consumer education solutions to Fortune 500 companies and their clients. The Privacy Learning Institute has featured him on its Web site. This year, Siciliano has discussed identity theft on CNBC's "On the Money" multiple times, on NBC's "Today Show," and on FOX News. He is author of "The Safety Minute: 01."

"Just one laptop lost to thieves can put a strain on any organization's bank account," said Siciliano. "The financial impact far outweighs the nominal costs of alternatives: affordable GPS tracking technology and systems for the remote retrieval of data housed on lost machines."

Gartner Group research reported at BusinessWeek.com on Oct. 31 has found that just one laptop lost to theft can result in costs related to lost productivity, as well as hardware and software replacement, that exceed $6,000. Often, organizations spend much more, with untold additional funds covering the loss of data.

One all-inclusive solution comes from MyLaptopGPS, an Oklahoma-based firm whose product of the same name, MyLaptopGPS , uses GPS to track the whereabouts of misplaced and stolen laptops. MyLaptopGPS employs Internet-based GPS, a system characterized by affordability and user-friendliness. And, going a step further, MyLaptopGPS also installs software that encrypts and silently removes and retrieves important files from lost laptops—at once returning the data to its rightful owner and deleting it on the stolen machine.

"The market offers a number of partial answers to laptop security concerns," said Dan Yost, chief technology officer at MyLaptopGPS (www.MyLaptopGPS.com). "But GPS tracking technology needs to go hand-in-hand with the ability to remotely destroy data on stolen machines—and nobody wants to destroy the data on that laptop without first being able to retrieve the files. These are the reasons why MyLaptopGPS provides all three options in one package for organizations keen on improving the security of their laptops."

On Nov. 1, the Dailypress.com reported that a laptop computer containing sensitive, identifying information on 4,600 high school senior ROTC scholarship candidates had been stolen from the U.S. Army Cadet Command's Fort Monroe, Virginia headquarters. Also on Nov. 1, the Cambridge Times, a U.K. publication, reported that a Fenland, England school that lost to burglars over the past six months 20,000 in equipment had since installed tracking technology on all its computers, including laptops.

"Equipping laptops with GPS tracking is one part of the solution," Siciliano said. "Software that allows you to remotely retrieve the data on missing laptop computers before that data's compromised at the source completes the equation. And an all-inclusive system saves money for organizations struck by portable computer theft."

Press Release Contact Information:

Robert Siciliano
IDTheftSecurity.com
President
P.O. Box 15145
Boston, MA
United States 02215
Voice: 888-742-4542
Fax: 877-232-9669
Website: Visit Our Website