Why is security important?
With the worldwide growing epidemic of identity theft, computer security is of great concern to everyone. In recent years, several Department of Defense computers have been stolen which contained personal information for up to 100,000 people. While the theft of the computer holds some degree of financial loss concern, the information contained within the computer could be far more damaging. Department of Defense computers typically contain Names, Social Security numbers, Dates of Birth, Addresses and more. This information can easily be used by criminals to apply for loans and credit cards for thousands of unknown victims.
On a personal level, private computers typically contain data and passwords for bank accounts, credit cards, investments and much more. A stolen laptop computer in the hands of a criminal could be highly damaging to the owner in a short period of time.
Personal electronics such as cell phones, iPod and handheld GPS units, while worth a lot of money by themselves, typically contain expensive or difficult to replace data as well. In some cases, the data could be worth much more than the cost of the unit. For example, an iPod sells for only a few hundred dollars but could contain up to ten thousand songs costing $1.00 each. A cell phone contains addresses and telephone numbers for family, friends and business contacts which could be extremely difficult to replace in the event of a theft.
