fire drill

FIRE DRILL! How secure are your files?

May 21, 2008

Imagine any of the following scenarios: You returned to your office this morning to find it had burned to the ground overnight. You cannot salvage anything but a few crispy bits of your pencil sharpener. Someone swiped your laptop on the train this morning while you were on your way to work. Nobody seems to [...]

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Another reason why data encryption is a must for laptops and all portable information

December 28, 2007

According to the Star Tribune, detailed personal information for 257 people, including social security numbers, was on a laptop stolen about three weeks ago. The laptop belonged to a vendor, Promissor Corp., who apparently does not observe the basic security precaution of encrypting information on portable computers and drives. I bet that would have been [...]

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A valuable reminder—keep your files secure

July 3, 2007

My office was burglarized over the weekend, a valuable reminder of the need to backup and secure your files, both paper and digital. All the jerks stole was a few rolls of stamps and my video camera. Expensive for me, to be sure, but nothing particularly disturbing. They didn’t touch my external hard drive that [...]

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Lessons learned the hard way: BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP (and make sure your backup system works!)

February 8, 2007

Today I spent two hours drafting a complaint. Tonight, I was getting the complaint ready to go, so I copied my summons form into the complaint document and saved the file without thinking about it. As my finger clicked the mouse button, I realized I had selected “Save,” not “Save as.” Oh shit. Yes, that’s [...]

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