Keeping confidential data safe?

[AN O'Nymous]

I will be away from home for a while. Just a few days ago there was a
break in in a house down the street from my place.

My hard disks at home contain confidential research work. It is
unlikely a thief would be able to make heads or tails of it but I
simply can not bear the thought of it ending up in a third party. I
also have quite a few CD/DVD backups -- about 1000+ discs, but I can't
be bothered to go through all of them to find the ones which contain
the most sensitive files, maybe 25 or so discs.

I was thinking about bringing my 6 (internal) hard disks with me on my
flight, but I am unsure whether X-rays or rough handling may corrupt
the data. Will it? Would wrapping the hard disks in towels be OK in
terms of shock protection?

As for the CD/DVDs, does anyone know whether it is likely an
opportunistic thief would steal a stack of them sitting in the corner?
When thieves break into a house of an absent owner, do they clear out
everything or just the expensive looking items?

Lastly, should I strip all key files from a WWW-connected server I use
for my numerical calculations? I am solely responsible for that
computer's security (even signed a form saying I was) and it uses SuSE
9.2. I keep a constant watch on it and being unable to do so for a few
weeks makes me jittery.

 

[philo]

I will be away from home for a while. Just a few days ago there was a
break in in a house down the street from my place.

My hard disks at home contain confidential research work. It is
unlikely a thief would be able to make heads or tails of it but I
simply can not bear the thought of it ending up in a third party. I
also have quite a few CD/DVD backups -- about 1000+ discs, but I can't
be bothered to go through all of them to find the ones which contain
the most sensitive files, maybe 25 or so discs.

I was thinking about bringing my 6 (internal) hard disks with me on my
flight, but I am unsure whether X-rays or rough handling may corrupt
the data. Will it? Would wrapping the hard disks in towels be OK in
terms of shock protection?

As for the CD/DVDs, does anyone know whether it is likely an
opportunistic thief would steal a stack of them sitting in the corner?
When thieves break into a house of an absent owner, do they clear out
everything or just the expensive looking items?

<snip> if you are really paranoid...
get a bank , safe-deposit box

 

[Patrick Cleburne]

I will be away from home for a while. Just a few days ago there was a
break in in a house down the street from my place.

My hard disks at home contain confidential research work. It is
unlikely a thief would be able to make heads or tails of it but I
simply can not bear the thought of it ending up in a third party. I
also have quite a few CD/DVD backups -- about 1000+ discs, but I can't
be bothered to go through all of them to find the ones which contain
the most sensitive files, maybe 25 or so discs.

Disk encryption s/w like PGP will lock it down tight...

 

[nemo_outis]

Safe-deposit box.

Regards,

 

[AN O'Nymous]

It has less to do with paranoia, than me signing multiple documents
explicitly saying that I am liable if anything goes wrong.

A safe-deposit box was the first thing I thought of, but the ones I've
seen won't hold 6 HDDs and 1000+ discs (like I said, checking 1000+
discs for the files in question is too big a hassle).

 

[AN O'Nymous]

Thanks, I think I'll go for this, and just take one hard disk with
backups with me in case a thief steals my PC during the festive season.


The 30 day trial looks good; by the time its over I will be back.

 

[Notan]

Disk encryption s/w like PGP will lock it down tight...

Anyone know if PGP will work with a RAID1 configuration?

Notan

 

[vernon]

Safe-deposit box.

Regards,

The perfect, uncomplicated answer.

 

[Donnie]

I will be away from home for a while. Just a few days ago there was a
break in in a house down the street from my place.

##################################
Who else did you tell besides the everyone who reads usenet?
donnie.

 

[AN O'Nymous]

##################################
Who else did you tell besides the everyone who reads usenet?
donnie.

I'd like to see how someone can track down my physical address via
Usenet.

Only my neighbours know.

 

[JANA]

You need a larger safety deposit box, or two of them!

What you can do, is back up all your data to several sets of CD disks, and
then format the drives. In the mean time, there would be no problem to store
the CD disks somewhere until you can get back and then restore the data
back.

I would look for a place to store the drives. Many businesses back up to
outboard drives, and then store the backup drives in a safe place.

--

JANA
_____


It has less to do with paranoia, than me signing multiple documents
explicitly saying that I am liable if anything goes wrong.

A safe-deposit box was the first thing I thought of, but the ones I've
seen won't hold 6 HDDs and 1000+ discs (like I said, checking 1000+
discs for the files in question is too big a hassle).

 

[wrench]

Lock them up at a locker at a bus station.

 

[john]

As for the CD/DVDs, does anyone know whether it is likely an
opportunistic thief would steal a stack of them sitting in the corner?
When thieves break into a house of an absent owner, do they clear out
everything or just the expensive looking items?

have you a loft ? a burglar in a hurry will not go up there, especially
if the ladder is disabled and there's already a burglar alarm sounding.

john

 

[traveler 66]

Thanks, I think I'll go for this, and just take one hard disk with
backups with me in case a thief steals my PC during the festive season.

The 30 day trial looks good; by the time its over I will be back.

I agree with the previous post, full hard drive encryption should help your
concerns the easy way, have a look at compusec, it's free and is a full
working commercial version. They make the $$ if you get an e-key, etc, but
if a lengthy password is good enough for you, it's free. Another one is
drivecrypt, but you have to pay from the get go.

I've flown several times with my laptop in hand, none of the checks will
affect your hard drive.

Regards

 

[martin]

Thanks, I think I'll go for this, and just take one hard disk with
backups with me in case a thief steals my PC during the festive season.


The 30 day trial looks good; by the time its over I will be back.

E4M (encryption fo rthe masses) is probably still around on the internet
somewhere which doesn't time expire.

 

[martin]

I'd like to see how someone can track down my physical address via
Usenet.

Only my neighbours know.

You trust everyone at you ISP do you, unless you're munging headers
you're going through Pipex? I wonder how many of their employees have
had an enhanced PNC check. More, I wonder how many of them would be
willing to sell this information to anyone involded in industrial espionage.

I think you should take all your equipment back to work and lock it up
in your office, then ask your IT security consultant to secure it for
you at your remote site.

 

[Beachcomber]

I'd like to see how someone can track down my physical address via
Usenet.

Only my neighbours know.

A safe deposit box is a good solution, but it may not be convenient
and, as you say, it might be subject to space limitations.

Another possiblity... Look to the ancient Asian cultures for a
reasonable solution. .. How did they keep their valuables safe during
a time when their were no commercial bank vaults available.

The answer is that they hid them, usually in secret compartments
within their furniture or their dwelling. While this strategy may
deter thiefs, it will not protect against fire, flood, tornados, etc.

For that, you need a home safe, or more specifically a UL rated fire
safe. Pack them in Tupperware to avoid water damage.

Now if you have a well hidden fire safe on your premises, perhaps this
is the best of both worlds.

Beachcomber

 

[Donnie]

##################################

I'd like to see how someone can track down my physical address via
Usenet.

Only my neighbours know.

#########################################
While I wasn't able to track your address, I have tracked many others in
various countries. So, don't think it's impossible. I hope you can trust
your neighbors.
donnie.

 

[kony]

You trust everyone at you ISP do you, unless you're munging headers
you're going through Pipex? I wonder how many of their employees have
had an enhanced PNC check. More, I wonder how many of them would be
willing to sell this information to anyone involded in industrial espionage.

I think you should take all your equipment back to work and lock it up
in your office, then ask your IT security consultant to secure it for
you at your remote site.

Well if we're going to be THAT ridiculously paranoid, we
can't very well discount the burglars going to his office,
nor intra-office espionage, or sabotage, or little green men
watching from their space ship. There's a good reason a
tin-foil hat is the time-tested solution- otherwise they'll
know what you're thinking and always be one step ahead!

 

[AN O'Nymous]

Well, in the end I think I'll settle on a Compusec-encrypted HDD and
taking a backup CD/DVD with my critical files with me.

I've got neighbours above and below me, both will be informed I'm gone
and I will tell both to call the police immediately if anything goes
wrong, so it should be OK.