If your laptop or mobile device is stolen or your janitorial service personnel or some other unauthorized person decides to take a look at the data, is it protected with a password or encryption? What is Encryption? Encryption is not a new concept with email or online applications; it has been around for years. Encryption [...]
If your laptop or mobile device is stolen or your janitorial service personnel or some other unauthorized person decides to take a look at the data, is it protected with a password or encryption?
What is Encryption?
Encryption is not a new concept with email or online applications; it has been around for years. Encryption in simplified terms is a means for coding or ciphering information in a form to protect against unauthorized people gaining access to it.
Why should You Care?
As lawyers, email has become a mainstream way to communicate with clients, opposing parties and business partners and one out of four lawyers are using laptops vs. a desktop computer in their office and many more are dependent on mobile devices that store data and are used to communicate with clients.
According to the 2012 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report on Law Office Technology, less than 40% of law firm with 2-50 lawyers have adopted some form of encryption software to protect their communications or hardware from unauthorized people
But where do you start?
I’d start by reviewing what’s available on the market. I found an encryption software review that shows comparisons between the top ten encryption software, where they were ranked the product from 0 which meant “bad” to a rating of 10 meaning “excellent”. This was a tough crowd that reviewed the software as the highest rated 8.38. The cost to purchase encryption software is fairly reasonable, ranging from $29.95 to $150.00. There are some big vendor names missing from the list, it makes me wonder who was solicited to participate in the review. But irrespective of that, there is a good comparison chart you can use as a tool when comparing encryption software against each other.
In the end, you should not take protecting your data lightly. Installing and utilizing encryption software is inexpensive and an easy way to protect your firm and personal data that resides on your computer or devices.
