With the recent news stories of laptops and memory sticks being lost in the public domain, it is more important than ever to make sure that your data is protected.

All companies have data that is sensitive and should not be accessible if it falls into the wrong hands. It may be customer details, employee information or banking / contract information that is vital for the continuation and reputation of your business.

To protect this data DTCS offer a range of data encryption options that can effectively and safely protect this data. Encrypting is a process by which bits of data are mathematically jumbled with a password-key. The Encryption process makes the data unreadable unless the correct encryption key or passphrase is entered.

Data encryption can be implemented on the software or hardware level. The most common is using a third party software application that encrypts the hard drive and all data contained therein. To access the data a user has to enter the passphrase when the laptop or PC is turned on. If the key is not correct the unit will not be accessible at all.

Alternatively, instead of encrypting the entire drive a secure 'container' can be created. This is a secure folder that is mounted using a decryption key so that it can be used and read normally. To re-encrypt the data the drive is ‘dismounted’, after which it is once again unreadable by interlopers, Trojan horses, spyware or un-authorised viewers.

The second option is to replace the standard hard drive with an encrypted drive. This is more expensive than the software route but increases the level of security to a point where even highly classified data is deemed 'safe'. It involves reinstalling the laptop/PC from scratch with the new hardware but it is now at the highest level of file security.

For transporting smaller files encrypted USB keys are now readily available. This works on a similar principal that requires users to enter a passphrase or passkey into the device to access the data. They can be configured to erase any data on the drive if a user enters the wrong passkey too many times.

For more information or for an informal chat please phone us on 0845 521 2405.