I’ve admitted that I have been using PCs for a very long time. Since 1985, to be more exact. From that time (floppy disk time), I’ve always set passwords and entry restrictions to some of my more precious disks. I’ve even hacked into the early DOS versions to change the commands to befuddle would be data pirates. In short, I did my very darnest to ensure that whoever tries to steal my data will have a very difficult time at it.
Of course, this also means that I am always branded as selfish. That’s what my brothers call me. I don’t care. It’s my data. Not yours or theirs. And my password’s mine and mine alone until after I’m dead.
I am still the same way today. On my home PCs I don’t install anything pirated. I look for free and/or opensource alternatives to the programs that I need to work. My home network has a router that is using a combination of stealth, encryption (for WiFi) and MAC address blocking. My laptop is locked and requires a password to use. Even if I’m the only one who ever uses it. Private and confidential data is stored on encrypted USB drives. So on and forth…
Why am I this way? The better question is, why aren’t you? Read this post from the Washington Post to get educated on the value of your machine to criminals. It doesn’t matter how old your machine is or how poorly spec’d. It is very, very useful to them for their work.
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Tags: data, gadgets, information, knowledge, personal, security, software, systems, technical, technology
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