Laptop Data Protection Tips

Laptops are quickly becoming the standard means of computing for today’s workforce. And businesses, now more than ever, need to establish standard backup procedures to backup their company’s “mission-critical” data.
In a recent survey of more than 200 IT directors and network storage managers of small-to-mid-size businesses, 40 percent of companies polled rely on an extensive network of laptop computers for their employees. Yet, half of the companies said they have no formal data backup and storage procedures in place for backing up “mission-critical” data hosted on their employees’ laptops.
The survey, sponsored by Imation Corp, a worldwide leader in removable data storage media, also discovered that less than one-third (29 percent) of these companies use software to back up changed files to a corporate network. Additionally, 57 percent of companies hold the individual employee responsible for backing up data onto the company server.
With such a large number of small and mid-sized companies placing the responsibility for backing up laptops in the hands of their employees, Imation recommends the following tips to help end-users avoid potential data loss on their laptops:

1. Implement a software program that automatically backs up laptop data on a regular basis. Most programs work by having the software monitor the laptop hard drive for any changes to data files or directories. Changes are then backed up locally on the laptop’s hard drive. The next time the user connects to the company’s network, the backup software automatically sends the changes to a server for further backup to tape.
   
   
2. Copying laptop files to a network drive for further backup to removable tape media is also a common strategy for companies not employing special software. In this case, the user should review their company’s network backup processes to understand how often backups are performed. Here are a few questions users can review with their IT department:
   
   - During regularly scheduled backups, what files, programs or folders get backed up?
   - What time of day are backups performed?
   - Where is the data stored and for how long?
   - Once stored, how can the data be accessed?
   
   
3. If a user does not have regular high speed access to a company’s network/file server, backup “mission-critical” data to removable data storage media. CDs and DVDs are simple, effective and cost-efficient solutions for backing up employee laptop data quickly. Users should clearly label their files with the contents and date of backup, and keep one copy in the laptop case and one copy in a secure location — away from their place of business or laptop case. And protect sensitive data from loss or theft while traveling by transferring sensitive files from the laptop to an USB flash drive with password protection.