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Martin Wainwright
Wednesday February 20 2008 The Guardian They may look like an easy steal, but forgotten or carelessly-stored laptops could carry a nasty sting in future. A British company has patented a hi-tech version of the cash boxes which squirt dye or shoot out telescopic poles - in the form of laptop software which photographs the thief, pinpoints his or her whereabouts and quietly destroys sensitive data. The system has been tested in Yorkshire following the recent spate of high-profile cases involving government laptops taken home or left in staff members' cars against regulations. A programme available on licence for £10 a month links to a control centre, which takes action if a laptop is used outside designated areas such as a government office or even a specific employee's desk. Once connected to the internet, which with the latest generation laptops would happen automatically when switched on, the computer takes repeated pictures of its surroundings while sending out its location to the control centre. "We guarantee to monitor the state and whereabouts of any laptop's electronic 'heartbeat', and to trigger the destruction of any files in the case of unauthorised, or apparently unauthorised, use," said Dean Bates of Virtuity, the Sheffield-based IT firm which has devised the scheme. "There are millions of laptops out there containing valuable data. Most of them are not stolen because of that, but it's an obvious attraction if the thief wants to sell the computer on to more serious criminals." The BackStopp programme is claimed to be undetectable to thieves, both when sending identification data and while wiping sensitive files. With the new generation of laptops, which use mobile phones' GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), the mechanisms would be in action as soon as a laptop left a room - even in the stairwell as a thief escaped from someone's home or office. The government revealed in January that 69 staff laptops and seven desktop computers went missing from the Ministry of Defence during the previous 12 months. Extremely sensitive data is usually stored online on virtual private networks (VPN). "We always advise clients to use VPN," said Bates, "but it is more or less inevitable that busy people will download something on to a computer temporarily, but then they forget about it and it stays there. BackStopp is an 'add-on' way of keeping secrets safe, working side-by-side with encryption, which is also vital." The system has a domestic version which allows data recovery through a separate, password-protected server for absent-minded laptop owners who forget the restrictions and wander out of their own authorised zones. Laptops now outsell desktop computers worldwide and their portability and small size makes them easy to forget. A six-month survey of property left in London taxis as long ago as 2005 found that 4,973 were left behind. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008 The creators of the virus are after bank logins and personal data Security experts are warning about a stealthy Windows virus that steals login details for online bank accounts. In the last month, the malicious program has racked up about 5,000 victims - most of whom are in Europe. Many are falling victim via booby-trapped websites that use vulnerabilities in Microsoft's browser to install the attack code. Experts say the virus is dangerous because it buries itself deep inside Windows to avoid detection. Old tricks The malicious program is a type of virus known as a rootkit and it tries to overwrite part of a computer's hard drive called the Master Boot Record (MBR). This is where a computer looks when it is switched on for information about the operating system it will be running. "If you can control the MBR, you can control the operating system and therefore the computer it resides on," wrote Elia Florio on security company Symantec's blog. Mr Florio pointed out that many viruses dating from the days before Windows used the Master Boot Record to get a grip on a computer. Once installed the virus, dubbed Mebroot by Symantec, usually downloads other malicious programs, such as keyloggers, to do the work of stealing confidential information. Most of these associated programs lie in wait on a machine until its owner logs in to the online banking systems of one of more than 900 financial institutions. The Russian virus-writing group behind Mebroot is thought to have created the torpig family of viruses that are known to have been installed on more than 200,000 systems. This group specialises in stealing bank login information. Security firm iDefense said Mebroot was discovered in October but started to be used in a series of attacks in early December. Between 12 December and 7 January, iDefense detected more than 5,000 machines that had been infected with the program. Analysis of Mebroot has shown that it uses its hidden position on the MBR as a beachhead so it can re-install these associated programs if they are deleted by anti-virus software. Although the password-stealing programs that Mebroot installs can be found by security software, few commercial anti-virus packages currently detect its presence. Mebroot cannot be removed while a computer is running. Independent security firm GMER has produced a utility that will scan and remove the stealthy program. Computers running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 that are not fully patched are all vulnerable to the virus. This story highlights the need for good laptop security. Also recommended is good laptop insurance. If you were lucky enough to get a new laptop for Christmas, or purchased one at a cut price in the sales don' t forget to buy insurance.
Cheap Laptop Insurance provides cover against theft, accidental damage, water damage and international use. We recommend this website to buy laptop insurance to cover your prized new laptop.  Dixons have put together a rather attractive laptop package on sale at the moment, this is what is included for you.... Toshiba A100-027 Laptop 1GB Disgo Portable Data Storage Device Logitech Internet Headset Mouse Laptop Case The laptop itself is not at all bad, this is the specifications that come as standard: PC Line Mouse, PC Line Laptop Bag Logitech Headset 1GB Data Storage Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2060 1.6GHz 533MHz FSB, 1MB Cache 1024MB RAM, 80GB Hard Drive Dual Layer DVD ReWriter MultiDrive 15.4" Widescreen Display Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 128MB Intel GMA 900 UMA Graphics So don't miss out on this excellent value laptop package from Dixons.co.uk By Brent MacLean Monday, September 10, 2007 Internet security is big news today and is growing at an exponential rate. According to the latest National Opinion Poll, as of January 2007, almost half of UK citizens still harbour a “deep mistrust” of the Internet due to security concerns. This does not include statistics from North America so I am sure the overall global numbers will indeed be quite alarming once available. The premise of ideas however is consistent. The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, meanwhile, is currently orchestrating a major enquiry into personal Internet security. Their Lordships observed wisely that “With the ever growing use of home computers, the spread of broadband, and the rise in internet banking and commerce the importance of proper internet security measures has never been greater.” How well equipped is our Government to combat the threat of cyber crime that currently exists? Response to the consultation has been extensive, and the Lords Select Committee has been hearing evidence since consultation closed in October 2006, from parties as varied as the Internet Service Providers Association, Richard Clayton of the Cambridge Security Lab, John Carr of the Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety, Jonathan Zittrain of the Oxford Internet Institute and many speakers from commercial bodies such as eBay, as well as the ICO, OFT and DTI. Meanwhile the councils have been more concerned with the public aspects of cyber security. In the last few years we have seen a rash of communications from them on topics such as information system security, critical infrastructure protection and denial of service attacks. ENISA, the European information Security Agency established in 2004, is becoming increasingly active. Despite all this, most businesses and citizens in Europe did still not take the threat posed by cyber-insecurity seriously. Unsurprisingly, a program followed this damning summary quickly and a Draft Directive on Critical Infrastructure Protection announced at the end of 2006. The security and economy of the European Union as well as the well being of its citizens depends on certain infrastructure and the services they provide. The destruction or disruption of infrastructure providing key services could entail the loss of lives, the loss of property, a collapse of public confidence globally. At root here, of course, is the fear not of simple hacking by domestic criminals or bored teens, nor even of blackmail by gangs of Estonian extortionists, but, in the post 9/11 world, of serious terrorist activity directed at nuclear plants, hospitals, automated transport, air traffic control, banking systems and domain name servers: the catalogue of possible targets is endless. Accordingly, the Draft Directive proposes the designation of a European Critical Infrastructure which will receive special protection and attention. The Appendix blandly designates “The Internet” in its entirety as part of this ECI. When and if the Directive passes, it will be fascinating to see how the fairly onerous responsibilities of the Directive – e.g. the creation and implementation of an Operator Security Plan - can be applied to every part of the Internet, including small one man ISPs and universities, etc. – but that is a problem for later discussion. For now, the point of this article is that, in the realm of Internet security, the personal is also the public (an adaptation of the old feminist adage that the personal is political?) and that the two cannot, and should not, be separated if we are to attain the nirvana of a safe and secure critical infrastructure and Internet. Nor can consideration of personal security and privacy threats to consumers; usefully be separated from the home security practices of those same individuals. In previous work on spam and denial of service, it was observed that most mal-doing on the Internet is now orchestrated via unknowing networks of thousands if not millions of “zombie” or “bot” computers. Such computers are typically home consumer machines, attached to “always on” broadband facilities, which have been infected by viruses or other types of software so that unknown to their legitimate owner, and usually without degradation of their ordinary capabilities, they perform the bidding of a “zombie master”. Hacking, denial of service, virus dissemination, theft of personal data, spamming, key-logging, click fraud, ID fraud and other cyber exploits are all now almost wholly orchestrated via such zombie networks. Why we ask? A number of reasons. For exploits such as denial of service, superior firepower is needed to knock down the servers of a bank or a major corporation – hence DoS becomes distributed denial of service. The activity of zombies is almost untraceable back to the actual criminal masterminds, the zombie masters (or their paymasters). Criminal activity can be handled remotely by botnets while the zombie masters stay safely at home in safe havens like parts of the Former Soviet Union. And making or acquiring zombies is child’s play nowadays: botnets can be bought for remarkably low prices, and zombie-making virus kits are readily available on the net. Technical knowledge is thus no longer necessary, and zombie networks are simply becoming another tool of the international criminal and gangster (and terrorist?) fraternity. What are we to do about this? Grand plans to safeguard critical Infrastructure are clearly important, but they are, to some extent, a case of safeguarding the stable after the horses have become zombies. Would it not be better to plan to make a more secure Internet from now on, as well as to put resources into fortifying our airports and power plants from attacks from the insecure Internet we have currently created? Criminal law is also a rather blunt and expensive tool with which to attack this threat. Criminal cross-border investigations may catch a few zombie masters and international hackers, but the resources needed are vast and the rewards few. Arguably, updating and enforcing cyber-criminal law is something of a red herring; an administrative, regulatory or technical solution might work better to produce a safer Net first, and then we can worry about catching and punishing the actual wrongdoers, safe behind territorial and technical anonymity, later. In previous work and statements made by well-respected journalists, it was argued “security was for everyone, not just for Christmas”. What does this mean? Catching and prosecuting zombie masters is the hardest and least useful part of the puzzle to solve. Instead, we can more helpfully look elsewhere for aid. For a start, we could ask the software writers to write better software, with fewer vulnerabilities, and therefore less need for frequent patching and updating to plug exploitable holes. (A tall order, says the software industry, but one that needs tackling sooner rather than later.) We could ask industry and the public sector to make sure their machines run up to date, patched software, and perhaps that they show a preference for open source software which is often more secure and less prone to attack than some ubiquitous proprietary software. We could ask ISPs to scan the data traffic going to and from computers attached to their networks for unusual patterns of traffic, and then to cut those likely zombies off from the Internet until they can be properly dismissed. We could even ask then to take on remote patching and updating of the operating systems and software on consumer machines, though this has multiple problems, of cost, liability, autonomy and consumer choice. It would however get round the problem of consumer ignorance and inertia as to computer security. We could alternately try to educate consumers in “safe software”: to use virus checkers, adware and spyware blockers, and firewalls conscientiously. But will we succeed? People do not want to fiddle with their PCs and Macs, to take the back off, or to get under the hood. They do not have the knowledge, the skills or, usually the incentive (zombified machines work fine, the threat posed is to others) and in some cases, they are actively scared of getting their “hands dirty”. Until the computer-savvy twenty-something generation rules the world, we may have to think again about an interim solution to cope with domestic machines, zombies and computer insecurity. Let us think about cars. When automobiles arrived on the scene, they were clearly inherently dangerous objects. They went too fast, were driven badly by ignorant, uneducated owners and scared the horses. Naturally a man was instructed to walk in front of them with a red flag and they were restricted to an anecdotal 5 mph. Today cars go far, far faster (but are, admittedly, a lot safer) but are still inherently dangerous objects. They are driven by people who, just as in the 19th century, largely do not understand how their car works, and have no idea how to maintain it in a state of safety. How do we as a society manage the risks of dangerous cars and consumer ignorance? Well, in several ways. There is of course the criminal law; we know we are not allowed to drink and drive, or to drive dangerously without possibility of penalty. But this is not really the main way in which “car insecurity” is controlled. There are instead a number of regulatory and administrative means, far more effective than criminal law, which keeps our roads, to a reasonably large extent, safe. You cannot, for a start, drive a car without a license. That implies a certain degree of education and knowledge of the rules of the road. You cannot drive without insurance. That means that if you do cause damage to someone else due to your insecurity they are at least always compensated. Both the license and the insurance systems are enforced, cleverly, not (in the main) by resource intensive police checks, but by the requirement that both be displayed to obtain a tax disc: and the tax disc system combined with a national car registration database allows for effective checking of who is properly “secured” by an automated computer system. Policing such a system then becomes relatively trivial. Can we learn from this for computer in security, with reference to consumers and zombies? It is clearly impossible, practically, politically and ethically, to require every consumer – including the ignorant, the poor and even the elite – to be legally responsible for keeping their computer in a state of reasonable security. We can try and educate them but we probably cannot impose a “computer-driving license”. But perhaps we can allow them to offload that responsibility, as we do with cars. Cars are safe in part because after a certain age they have to be checked over by a responsible garage and certified as fit for the road. Without such an “MOT”, again, a tax disc cannot be obtained. Again, we cannot probably reasonably demand that home owners have their computers checked over as safe by a travelling “computer MOT man” – the issues of invasion of privacy, surveillance and inertia are too great, and, anyway, one day after the MOT man had been round the computer would be hit by a new virus. But we could present a number of alternatives. Suppose a basic obligation is placed on every networked computer owner to keep that computer reasonably secure. This obligation could be met by: Self-vigilance This is fine for the commercial and public sector where resources such as IT departments exist to keep computers safe. It is also fine for home computer owners who feel capable of keeping their own machines secure (“geeks” as they are known in the trade). Alternately, for the vast majority of individuals (and small businesses?) who do not have computer skills, another option would be: Subscribing to an ISP who undertakes security measures for you Such services are already beginning to be available on the market at reasonable rates. Some ISP’s offer a range of industry level secure ISP services to consumers. A legal obligation of security on consumers, which could be met by signing up to, an accredited secure ISP service would quickly inspire a competitive market of “safe ISPs”. Exactly what the ISP would have to offer would have to be worked out and supervised – patching, updating, scanning, closing of ports, remote operation of virus checkers and firewalls? Model “safe ISP” contracts could perhaps be drafted, drawn up in collaboration between the ISP and the DTI, and then kite marked. The strength of this suggestion is that ISPs are being asked to provide a business service at market rates; not to take on a role as guardians of the Internet for free, which there is no reasonable case for imposing on them. This is just one back of an envelope scheme, which seeks to use (primarily) administrative rather than criminal law to regulate cyber-insecurity; there could be others. But the underlying message is to ask both the Select Committee and the security councils worldwide to think about ways of securing home user computers as well as critical infrastructure; to try to create a safer Internet and not just try to deal with the consequences of an unsafe one. To reshape and coin an old aphorism, in this domain, security really does begin at home. Data theft is becoming an ever more pressing issue, even for advisers, but there are methods of reducing risk – Emily Freeman investigates. Around the world, there has been an epidemic of thefts of laptops and other mobile devices where the motive of the theft may not have been to sell on the hardware, but to access the information contained on the device. Sometimes the circumstances initially appear to be a straightforward burglary of an office, home, or motor vehicle. Sometimes the device or laptop is just lost or left in a hotel or at the airport. What may have originally been a straightforward physical crime or disappearance can change, if thieves realise the value of the information contained on the device. Such a circumstance has led to extortion attempts, in some cases, for the return of the hard drive of the computer once the thieves realise there is sensitive personal or corporate information that the owner would want returned. Some equipment has been stolen for the sole purpose of stealing the data held on it, as identity theft involves organised crime around the world. In the UK, there was the well-publicised matter in February 2007, involving the theft of a home laptop of a Nationwide Building Society employee which contained confidential customer data. The FSA levied a £980,000 fine after it came to light that the laptop contained information on nearly 11 million customers. Although at the time, there were no reports of identity fraud as a result of this incident, and the file did not contain PIN numbers, there may have been customer names, addresses and account numbers stored. Nationwide communicated to the affected customers concerning the security breach, but the FSA was concerned about the controls in place to prevent such an event from happening at all. In the US, an event like this would have had far greater consequences. Significant identity theft class action activity caused by the passage in more than 36 states, starting with California in 2003, of requirements to notify affected individuals, whether customers or potentially even employees, of potential security breaches involving unencrypted personally identifiable non-public information. This information includes name, address and social security number, or name and address associated with a driver's licence or account number. The costs of notification and mitigation can be in the millions. Notification costs involve not only mailing and public relations, but also legal advice, professional assistance through a call centre, free credit report and credit monitoring. Following a notification, issuing banks will seek reimbursement of costs associated with closing compromised credit cards. Finally, for publicly traded companies, there is the real possibility of a derivative shareholder action filed after the announcement of a large security breach and its impact on the brand and investors. From all indications, this US notification requirement is being considered seriously by the regulators in the EU, although financial services firms do notify their customers on a voluntary basis. The legal, regulatory and reputational risks of the data theft caused by a theft of a mobile device is a major concern for financial services companies, no matter where they are located. There are a number of risk management approaches to deal with the problem. It is important to establish a clear laptop security procedure for employees, independent contractors, vendors and business associates regarding storage of non-public personal information – either medical or financial – on mobile devices. Conducting security awareness training to make sure the procedure is understood and reinforced is wise. This aspect of the security programme should be included as part of internal and external audits. If such information must be stored on a mobile device, all such information should be encrypted. Dual level authentication should be required on such devices as well, such as network password plus a random number generated token, where the number changes every sixty seconds for example. Other approaches include fingerprint technology for USB devices, a requirement that employees only use memory sticks provided by the IT department, and a software program that can destroy the hard drive of the computer if the computer has been reported as stolen. In terms of insurance, traditional insurance policies do not address the risks associated with data theft and the consequential damages that follow. Property policies only provide coverage for the value of the laptop or device itself, not the data contained on it. Traditional crime policies cover stealing money, securities and tangible property and do not cover the consequential damages associated with identity fraud. General liability policies do not cover security breaches associated with data either, as data is not tangible property. Also, general liability policies cover 'occurrences' that are unintended from the standpoint of the insured. Unfortunately, some cases involve circumstances where the perpetrator was an employee or where the outside perpetrators were assisted by an employee. Traditional professional indemnity policies may not address this risk concern either. There may be no specific coverage provision for security breaches. Again, an exclusion for criminal or dishonest acts committed by the insured or any of its employees may prove to be an issue. Another problem could be whether the loss arises out of performing a professional service or if the loss arises from a security breach committed by an outside vendor – such as a business processing outsourcer, IT outsourcer, or call centre. There are specific insurance policies sold in the Lloyds of London insurance market for security and privacy liability, which would address data theft from mobile devices. Such policies can address civil liability. Some even extend to costs associated with regulatory investigations and notification costs. The underwriters of these policies wish to understand the operations, security controls, and claims experience of applicants, which they do through security questionnaire or conference call with the applicant's IT security officer. The financial and brand risks from data theft following the theft of a mobile device can be far reaching and serious. There are risk control and insurance approaches that should be explored by companies who collect, use, transmit or store personally identifiable, non-public information, especially financial services companies. Emily Freeman is executive director for technology, media, intellectual property and cyber risks at Lockton International, London.  An external hard drive is recommended to back up your laptop data when ever possible. Keep this at home, then use it to store all your important laptop documents and files. In the event that your laptop is stolen, you will still have all the data safe at home. This is recommended by many top laptop security experts, along with laptop insurance.  For people at home or on the move, Fujitsu brings you a good all round laptop with Intel's dual core processor and Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium. An 80Gb hard drive capacity and dual layer DVD rewriter means you can store more of your favourite DVDs and music. Watch them over and over again on your bright 15,4’’ wide screen. With 4 USB connections you can connect your printer, camera, MP3 player and much more. Get connecting!  Intel Celeron M Processor 440 1.86GHz, 533Mhz FSB, 1MB Cache Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium 1GB Memory 80GB Hard Drive DVD ReWriter MultiDrive 15.4" Widescreen Display 128MB Shared Graphics Wireless Enabled Up to 1.5 Hours Battery Life  With the Sony Vaio N31 Laptop featuring a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo processor and with Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium installed, you can experience breakthrough mobile capabilities. The styilsh 15.4'' X-Black LCD widescreen display is perfect for watching your favourite movies and photos. The impressive 1GB memory (RAM) is enough to run Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium without any performance issues, and running multiple applications at the same time poses no problem. The 100GB hard drive is plenty of storage for video, music and photos. So, if you want a top brand laptop that is built for performance, then this Sony is perfect. One of the leading manufacturers of ace laptops is Sony. It has introduced a series of laptops in its VAIO family - the Sony VAIO N31S/W being one of the best models in the series. The Sony VAIO N31S/W comes with a stylish look with enhanced features concealed inside. The gadget is equipped with the powerful Window Vista and Intel Core 2 Duo BBC NEWS Technology Apple overhauls entire iPod line
A touch-screen iPod has been added to Apple's popular line of portable music players. The gadget also has wi-fi and a web browser on-board so people can buy music when they are out and about. The device was unveiled by Apple boss Steve Jobs during a press conference that also showed off revamped versions of the other models of music players. The overhaul comes in time for the key US holiday season when Apple typically sees an upturn in sales of the players. Coffee deal The iPod touch was the star of the widely anticipated announcements made by Mr Jobs which saw changes made to every music player the company makes. Owners of the iPod touch will be able to use the built-in Safari browser to surf the web or buy music via the onboard wi-fi iTunes store. A deal with Starbucks will let people use the wi-fi iTunes store for free while inside one of the company's cafes. Dedicated icons on the touch screen give access to YouTube or the Google and Yahoo search engines. The touch screen iPod comes in two versions that have 8 or 16 gigabytes of memory. In the US the smaller device will cost $299 (in the UK it will cost £199) and the larger $399 (£269 in the UK). Prices in Europe have not been announced but are likely to be higher than direct comparisons suggest. The iPod touch will be in shops by the end of September. Said Mr Jobs: "It's one of the seven wonders of the world - it's just incredible." Apple also announced that the full-sized iPod will now only be available in 80 or 160 gigabyte versions. The iPod nano got an overhaul that saw it assume a squarer shape, the ability to handle video and bigger memory. The shuffle is now available in five colours. Apple is also starting to sell ringtones via iTunes for iPhone owners. An update to iTunes will let them craft their own ringtones for $0.99. The price of the iPhone with eight gigabytes of storage is being cut by $200 to $399. The four-gigabyte model is being dropped.  Built slim and light with carbon material, the Sony Vaio TXMNw is not only a fantastic ultra-slimline laptop but is packed full of technology to meet all your lifestyle needs. Pre-loaded with Genuine Windows Vista ® Business its Ultra-low voltage platform delivers maximum performance and up to 7 hours battery life. The TXMNW comes with a 11.1'' Widescreen X-black LCD display with LED technology, perfect for viewing all your Genuine Windows Vista ® Business files, Ultra-low voltage Intel® Centrino technology and Bluetooth®. Which? has just released their annual computer buying guide. There is some interesting reading to anyone coming to buy a new computer. It may come as a surprise to some people, but laptops are on average 5% more reliable than desktops. The most reliable laptop of all is the Toshiba laptop, scoring 91% in the reliability test. This is the results of their laptop reliability test: Toshiba Laptops 91% Acer Laptops 88% Hewlett Packard Laptops 88% Sony Laptops 88% Compaq Laptops 85% Dell Laptops 85% Fujitsu Siemens Laptops 85% Apple Laptops 82% Surprisingly Apple laptops are the least reliable, which goes against popular belief. But still, 88% of Mac owners would recommend them to a friend. The Toshiba, as well as being the most reliable, scored two Best Buy awards, for the Toshiba Satellite P200-140 and the Toshiba Satellite A200-1Ai. Most new PC's, (not Apple Mac's) will come with Windows Vista. This is the latest operating system from Microsoft. You can still choose XP if you want it, with suppliers such as Dell. There is a significant risk of being left behind though if you do this. Most new hardware and software will be designed to be Vista compatible.  Featuring the latest in Intel's latest processor series (Core 2 Duo) this great value Philips ultra portable laptop is perfect for a mobile lifestyle. The Dual Core performance gives you an enhanced mobile experience whilst also providing an enhanced battery life. The ultra portable 12.1" widescreen display makes the laptop more portable, and is perfect for the frequent traveller. For entertainment on the go, Windows Vista Home Premium with Media Center can help control, organise and find all your favourite songs, movies and photos. The impressive 1GB memory will let you run multiple applications without slowing the laptop down, and the 100GB hard drive is ample storage for all your work documents. This Philips is perfect for someone looking for a compact, stylish and powerful laptop. 
 Product description The sleek, silver Advent 8117 laptop has a powerful Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor and 17’’ widescreen monitor. Organise and store more photos, music and DVDs with Windows Vista Home Premium and the huge 120Gb hard drive. It’s wireless enabled, so you can connect to an existing wireless network. This laptop currently has an amazing £100, making it only £399. Cheap Medion Widescreen Laptop with Windows Vista Home Basic
Was: £399.99 Save: £100.00 Now: £299.99 Featuring Genuine Microsoft Vista Home Basic and an Intel Celeron Mobile processor, this slick Medion Multimedia Wireless Notebook boasts loads of space for storing music and photos, plus a dual-layer DVD re-writer. Software Included: As students across the UK take up university places and finalise their accommodation, insurers remind parents to check that their insurance policy covers their children too. According to the Home Office, students own more expensive consumer goods per head than the rest of the population. If students only took a laptop, ipod and portable TV, they could easily be placing over £2,000 worth of property at risk before even taking into account other personal possessions such as mobile phones and books. Young people aged 16 to 24 years old are also around three times more likely to be victims of burglary than people in other age groups, which makes students all the more vulnerable. Laura Wood from NFU Mutual said: “As undergraduates embark on their first year at university, it is important for them to check that their personal possessions are insured. “Many students already find it a considerable financial struggle to make ends meet and one of the last things they need is to have to pay out to replace stolen possessions. However, arranging insurance can be as simple as speaking to mum and dad. “Parents should check their existing insurance to see if their children are already covered.” If students are not covered by their parents insurance, it is a good idea to take out a seperate laptop insurance or ipod insurance policy to cover for such an eventuality as theft.  EI SYSTEM 3103 Laptop and Currys Discount Codes This week Currys have an excellent offer on the EI 3103 laptop, and using these discount codes, you could save a further £30 of the advertised price of £379.99. Discount Codes: AW10AUG = £10 off when you spend over £100 AW30AUG = £30 off when you spend over £300 AW60AUG = £60 off when you spend over £600 AW100AUG = £100 off when you spend over £999 AW120AUG = £120 off when you spend over £1,500  We have negotiated an excellent £60 dicsount for our readers on this Acer laptop. This code is valid only until 08 August 2007. Just enter the code LAPTOP60 at the checkout to get a full £60 off this laptop from Comet. The specifications are good, looking like this... Acer laptop featuring Vista Home Basic, Intel Celeron Mobile processor, 512MB RAM, 80GB hard drive, DVDRW and 15" display Editor's Blog: Disclosing data breaches - Editor's Blog - Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com You may have noticed that at the start of this week silicon.com kicked off a major campaign. It’s called Full Disclosure and you can see our opening salvo here. In a word: when an organisation, be it bank, retailer, government department or other, leaks some of your personal data, you should know about it. It is obviously a bit more complex than that. Some types of data are more important than others. Your National Insurance number is worth more than your star sign, to use an example that springs to mind. And what are we asking for? Well, ideally we’d like a change in the UK law, so it is in line with what now happens in California every time an e-tailer’s database is cracked or an insurance company employee leaves her laptop in a cab with a list of a million policy holders on it. The idea is that openness is best. That way we get to see which organisations take security least seriously and we respect the right response to the occasional blip. As things stand, the types of breaches you read about on these pages are just the tip of the iceberg, we can safely assume. We estimate there is another 90 per cent we don’t - but should - know about. When an organisation, be it bank, retailer, government department or other, leaks some of your personal data, you should know about it. We also get to act accordingly. If my internet bank account has been compromised, I’d quite like to move funds or adjust my security settings. What have we learned so far? For one, there is an appetite for this change, an appetite even greater than we have sensed over recent months. A raft of people and organisations are lining up their support. Some, though not all, are from the IT sector. We will doubtless receive criticism along the lines of 'They would say that, they have something to gain' – though that is not universally true. Some suppliers will also have some answering to do if a particular technology or approach based on a technology lets a user organisation down. We have also already heard from those saying this shows just how infrequently communications and databases are encrypted. We agree. Encryption should be used more often. And then there is the view that alerting thousands of customers – and potentially the thieves themselves – as to what has been stolen equates to giving the crooks a tip-off. A laptop that would be sold on for a barely three-figure sum all of a sudden becomes worth many thousands to the thief who only after the act realises what he might have purloined... perhaps thanks to a report in the media Laptop and computer theft is a risk to all computer users, there are some simple and fairly cheap steps you can take in order to help reduce this risk and protect your computer from laptop theft. In the office there are a few simple things you can do to prevent theft of your computers. First off, set a password on booting up, so that even if the computer is stolen, its useless as nothing can be accessed. A strong password is NOT a dictionary word, DOES contain numbers, letters and symbols, in a mixture of upper and lower case, and is at least 10 charachters. Next back up everything on your computer, and keep a record of all your licence keys, and make sure you have copies of all the original software. This will make it easier to get back up and running if your do experience theft. Next, buy a lock, something like a Kensington lock and chain the computer to a fixed object. This combined with a suitable alarm system will help reduce the risk of burglary.  Laptops are more of a risk, by their nature they are light, easy to carry and expensive. The perfect target for a thief. Carrying them around in a traditional laptop bag, it is obvious to anyone what you are carrying. Instead, go covert. Put your laptop in a backpack, or another type of holdall. Putting it in a laptop bag first will protect your computer from any scratches. Don't leave your computer unattended, this may sound obvious but it is amazing how many computers are stolen on a train or in a restaurant when left unattended. The last measure is to insure your computer, as not all thefts can be prevented. Security and Safety for Small Businesses IT | How-to Guides for running your business from Work.com
This is an excellent guide for small businesses. There are many free tips and tricks for how to protect your valuable computer and all the data on it, whether that be your intellectual property, customer data, or mailing lists.  This wireless enabled laptop from Toshiba is fantastic value and comes with Windows Vista Basic software. With an 80Gb hard drive capacity and DVD rewriter you can read play and create loads of DVDs and CDs. Great for music and movies so get downloading. The price... only £369.99 when bought online. This is a saving of £80 compared to the store price! This is just a quick post for our readers to inform you that Pixmania is running a summer sale. Amongst other things, they have a wide range of laptop computers at reduced prices.
 Some of the laptops available include the Toshiba Satellite L30-105, which comes with Pentium Dual Core T2060 1,60 GHz, 1024 Mb, 80Gb 15.4 '', DVD±RW Qwerty, Vista Home Basic and retails for only £395. Our favourite deal on the site is the Acer Aspire 5633WLMI. Consumers reviewed this a stunning 9 our of 10. At only £466.54 the Aspire 5633WLMi laptop has a configuration that is perfectly suitable for your multimedia entertainment. Equipped with Core 2 Duo processor technology, the Aspire 5633WLMi comes with an 80 GB hard drive and a DVD writer compatible with dual layer supports.To get the cheapest possible price, use these exclusive Pixmania discount codes at the checkout.... awin070804 awin070803 awin070802 awin070801 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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