‘Must Have’ Software

Endpoint security or endpoint protection is an approach to the protection of computer networks that are remotely bridged to client devices. The connection of laptops, tablets, mobile phones and other wireless devices to corporate networks creates attack paths for security threats. Endpoint security attempts to ensure that such devices follow a definite level of compliance to standards.

Most important – proper, configured & up-to-date EndPoint Security

Full disk encryption – also known as whole encryption – is the most effective way to prevent confidential data being taken from a laptop that has been lost, stolen or left unattended in a hotel room.

FDE works by encrypting a system’s entire hard drive – all the confidential data stored on it, but also the operating system and all applications. When the system is started, the user is prompted for the encryption key, which enables the system to decrypt enough to boot and run normally.

Most full disk encryption products allow users to provide the system’s encryption key at the pre-boot stage in several ways:

• in the form of a password or passphrase;
• by inserting a USB drive containing the encryption key;
• using a one-time password-generating device such as an RSA token;
• or using a biometric device such as a fingerprint reader

A combination of two or more of these methods can be used to create multifactor authentication, for greater encryption strength and added security.

As information is read from the disk that is protected by full disk encryption, it is decrypted on the fly and stored in memory – and any information written to the disk is also encrypted on the fly. Without the encryption key, the data stored on the disk remains inaccessible to thieves and hackers

Choices of FD Encryption here – Becrypt, GCHQ accredited, FREE etc

If you are accessing data based out of your office systems always ensure that the Firewall at the office has been set-up correctly with encrypted communications (VPN) and has been ‘locked down’ to the unique identifier of your laptop (MAC address) plus install 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) to ensure the connection is secured

You are vulnerable to attack using FREE Wi-Fi without a VPN (Virtual Private Tunnel)