Comments on: windows xp security tips

By: redbird

redbird — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 06:46:41 +0000

i truly appreciate all the suggestions given. thanks. i have encrypted at the folder level, and all files of sensitive nature were copied to encrypted folders, then the original files erased to us dod standard. the keys were stored on my jump drive, using encryption, then erased from hard drive. final step was to empty temp folders, and erase unused disk space, including cluster tips and file names and the space where the pagefile.sys file was resident. i haven’t created the password yet, i am working on that. i will be travelling with my laptop which never had any of these files stored on it to begin with, so, if stolen, they will get nothing more than the unit itself. if i’ve missed anything, please bring it to my attention. thanks again for the help being provided.

By: kevinbeaver

kevinbeaver — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:23:22 +0000

Are you sure you’ve encrypted everything sensitive? The problem with encrypting at the file or volume level is that files containing sensitive information – and even ones containing info that can serve as a stepping stone – can easily fall out of the realm of protection you have. Files get copied both intentionally and accidentally. Files get saved to temp directories, the swap file and hibernation files can contain sensitive information. You get my drift.

The best way I’ve found is to encrypt the entire hard drive using a complex – yet easy to remember – passphrase. Like Schmidtw said, nothing’s going to be 100% secure but whole disk encryption (i.e. PGP and others) provides a darn near 100% solution.

By: schmidtw

schmidtw — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:05:14 +0000

I have many many many (you get the point) passwords. I save them in an Excel file. I protect the document with a password. I encrypt the entire document with another password. Then I save it on a multi-layered password protected flash drive. That flash drive never leaves my pocket. No matter what you do, it’s going to be a security risk. The main problem is you need passwords to be accessible, but the more accessible they are, the less secure they are. You will have to find the compromise and the happy medium.

Hope this helps!

-Schmidtw