Data Security and backup.. Its important..

In the so called todays 'IT age', we have come to take computer/internet/laptop usage as granted..

Most of the things that we do, have some connection to our new 'lifelines', our computer.. People use it all the time to access internet, access online mail (which in turn may have lots of other personal and sensitive information), access bank/mortgage/investment (u get it!) accounts, shop online and pay online.. In the middle of all this, we take the security and privacy of our information for granted..

We let our browsers store our login information and access passwords..
We store most of our important docs online or on our personal machine.. (I scan and store most of the stuff..)
Most other information, like contacts/phone numbers/passwords/url's etc. are all stored into your machine in some doc/form or fashion..

And with complete oblivion, we conclude that nothing 'BAD' is going to happen (I am one of those).. We give in to believe that things like backing up and securing your data is something for a corporation, and not for some mortal soul like ourselves.. Wrong!!

To get this point across, allow me to mention an incident that happened yesterday to a close friend of mine. There was a break-in in his house, and along other things, the burglar stole his laptop.. Fortunately for him, he did not have much sensitive information on it. But, if this had happened with me, the burglar could have a whole treasure trove of information, at his disposal..

Having gained from my friends experience, I am determined to let go off the laziness, and to pro actively setup an automated incremental weekly backup of important info., to make sure this info is encrypted and accessible only to someone with access and authority, and to keep greater care of where I keep and leave my laptop and data..

For this, I will be evaluating/using SyncBack Freeware for backing up data, and TrueCrypt for encrypting the data drives/folders.

Finally, you may also want to consider installing a free software from LaptopLock to protect your computer from thieves. In scenario where your laptop gets stolen, and whoever connects to internet the first time, after you have reported your laptop as stolen (without wiping off the disk/disabling the software), won't get access to your personal information, and the users IP can be tracked. It's not 100% dependable, but somethings still better than nothing. Right!

Pls. feel free to leave comments on any other freeware tools/utilities that you know of and is intuitively easy to use.