Years ago, my laptop was stolen. It was a little Dell ultraportable PC with a black and white LCD screen and Windows 3.11. Someone pinched it when I was playing pinball in a pub.

Partly because of that embarrassing experience and partly because I write about security a lot now, I am increasingly concerned about laptop security. (See my article about new laptop with a fingerprint sensor and whole disk encryption.)

If you’re a writer or entrepreneur, your laptop is your life.

Anyhow, here are some links to recent articles on the subject that I wrote for my Hewlett-Packard blog:

• How secure are your company’s laptops?
• The price of insecurity
• Steve Gales on notebook security

Here is a list of the ten most bizarre things left behind on a London taxi:

1. A harp
2. A throne
3. £100,000 worth of diamonds*
4. 37 milk bottles
5. A dog
6. A hamster
7. A suitcase from the fraud squad
8. A baby
9. The original models for Wallace and Grommit
10. MI6 laptop with secret files

* I interviewed the cabbie who found them. Even though he returned them to the rightful owner, he didn’t get a tip. True story.

Anyhow, I promised some tips on keeping data on  your laptop safe and here they are:

1. Keep it backed up. I use Windows Vista’s Sync Center to automatically sync my work files with my server. I’ve heard Microsoft’s SyncToy and FolderShare are pretty good too. Failing those options, a detachable USB hard disk and a regular backup is another option. For routine backups, I use MozyPro which backs up my server over the internet to a remote, secure data store. It’s way easier than wrangling DAT tapes.
2. Encrypt your hard disk. I use HP’s ProtectTools because it came free with my laptop and I met some of the guys who test and develop it when I was in Houston last year. Microsoft Windows Vista BitLocker would also do the trick. (More advice about encryption, including a list of free software, on the excellent GetSafeOnline.org’s Use Encryption page.)
3. Use strong passwords. I recommend setting a boot password, especially on a modern laptop where it will be difficult to circumvent.  Similarly, use a strong password to log into windows. A strong password, as the class already knows, consists of a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks and not whole dictionary words or easily guessed things. In Windows XP, set a password on the default administrator account but use a less-privileged user account for day-to-day work. In Vista, use UAC and, again, use a plain user account for normal work.
4. Be careful about what you copy. If you don’t have sensitive information on your laptops, it can’t be stolen.
5. Bag it up. Use a padded, drop-proof bag that doesn’t look like a laptop bag. I use a J. Crew satchel with a Tumi padded laptop holder as an insert. 
6. Security chains. I use a Kensington laptop lock when I’m in a hotel to chain my laptop to a desk. I’ve also seen USB alarms.
7. Don’t post your laptop.  Just because Apple’s shiny new Mac Book Air will fit in an envelope, that doesn’t mean you have to load it up with citizens’ private data and post it.  This means you HM Revenue and Customs.