Never leave your laptop alone

Breaches of databases, resulting in the loss or theft of personal information reached record heights in 2007. Worse, experts believe the trend is not going to reverse anytime soon.

One non-profit group estimates that 79 million records were compromised in the U.S. only through Dec. 18, compared to about 20 million records in all of 2006.

Another non-profit organization counts over 162 million records compromised in the U.S. and overseas through Dec. 21, compared to 49 million it reported in 2006.

The major data breaches made public in 2007 included the following:

* Hackers broke into the computer systems of discount retailer TJX Cos., stealing at least 46 million customer records, mainly credit card data. Banks that subsequently sued TJX reported that over 94 million records were actually involved.

* Two computer disks containing addresses and bank account numbers of 25 million people were lost in internal government mail from Britain's tax and customs department addressed to the government's audit agency. The disks simply disappeared.

* A former contract worker stole 9 million private records from Dai Nippon Printing Co., a Japanese commercial printing company.

* A former employee of the check-authorizing subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services stole records on 8.5 million consumers.

* Hackers breached the database and stole contact information on more than 6.3 million customers from online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

* Con artists stole contact information found in 1.3 million resumes from Monster Worldwide Inc., the online job site.

The biggest breach this year was the hacking at TJX Cos., owner of TJ Maxx and Marshalls discount stores, accounting for over half of total records lost in 2007. It began with hackers intercepting wireless transfers of data between two stores in Miami. This served as the entry point that eventually led into the central databases.

Experts believe wireless data transmission is the major vulnerability in the current system. It is getting more common, and eavesdroppers are getting more agile in bypassing security safeguards.

Aside from hacking, a major concern in 2007 was the increase in incidents where company employees lose sensitive data, such as the cases involving the British tax and customs department and Monster Worldwide online jobs site.

Many of the breaches are the result of sloppy information handling. Employees lose laptop computers with Social Security numbers. Human errors like these are completely avoidable.

Companies, government agencies, schools, and other institutions may be investing more in sophisticated firewalls and encryption to protect growing volumes of sensitive data, but hackers appear to be ahead of their security systems. Besides, people continue to lose their laptops and computer disks.

Safety Tips:
* Never leave your laptop alone in hotspots. Thefts are getting more common; thieves may even attempt to grab your laptop.
* Put only operating system applications in your laptop. This ensures no one will get your data even if they steal your PC. Put your data into an encrypted USB flash disk.