Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

THE FRIGHTENING COST OF UNSECURED LAPTOPS

As the FSA fines Nationwide nearly £1 million, following a laptop theft, Wick Hill asks: ‘Can your business afford to remain unsecured?’

Woking, Surrey: 19th February 07 - The FSA has just fined Nationwide £980,000 for information security lapses following the theft of a laptop from an employee’s home last year. On top of that, it cost the Nationwide a considerable amount to inform customers of the risks they had been exposed to, because of the theft.

Yet companies can easily and inexpensively protect themselves from this kind of data leakage with encryption software.

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of security company Wick Hill, said: “It really is very easy and economical for companies to protect data on their laptops using encryption software from vendors such as Utimaco. This can cost as little as GBP 75 per device protected and will make it impossible for anyone stealing a laptop to decipher what is on it.”

Businesses are responsible for safeguarding personal information held on their systems under data protection laws and many other regulator requirements. In addition to this concern, there may be company sensitive information which you wouldn’t want competitors or even anyone outside the company to see. Financial loss is only part of the headache for a company losing data. Loss of reputation can also be significant.

Kilpatrick commented: “With the ever-increasing use of laptops out of the office, their vulnerability to theft, and the availability now of low-cost security solutions, it is time for companies to take the leap to securing laptops. By doing so, they not only protect key data from potential exposure, but also meet their regulatory obligations.”

About Wick Hill
Established in 1976, VAD (value added distributor) Wick Hill specialises in secure infrastructure solutions. The company's portfolio covers security, performance, access, services and management. Wick Hill sources and delivers best-of-breed, easy-to-use solutions through its channel partners, providing customer support, implementation, training and technical services.

About Utimaco products
Utimaco Safeware’s SafeGuard product range provides secure mobile computing by protecting data against unauthorised access on PCs, laptops, PDAs, smartphones, and networks. This includes encryption of hard disks, files, folders and external devices, access control, strong authentication and integrity control, biometrics, and multi-user encryption.

For further press information, contact Annabelle Brown on 0191 252 8548, e-mail a_brown@dial.pipex.com. For reader queries, contact Wick Hill on 01483 227600, web www.wickhill.com.