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Governor's Laptop Missing?Tuesday, January 04, 2004It hasn't happened yet, but a personal laptop belonging to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's press secretary could become an open book. And what a political mess of significant proportions that could make. At least that's what two political science professors at UC Berkeley were moved to report: They agree that this incident should sound an alarm to everyone who uses laptops, especially (or ostensibly) those used for work purposes only. It's a pretty well-established "no-no" to send personal e-mail while logged on to your company-provided computer. We've all been warned, and a good number of us have felt the sting of, "Gotcha!" Yet we tend to think of wireless technology, with all its bells and whistles, as an impenetrable fortress. We can have as many locked codes, firewalls, and anti-spam-ware as we want for laptop protection, but so far, no one's invented "anti-theft installation." And, even though Thompson's Dell notebook was reported stolen Aug. 1 and still hasn't been recovered, the potential leak of insider information -- which could be damaging to the Schwarzenegger camp or its leader himself -- is palpable. One would think that this kind of burglary -- in which the thieves made off with not only Margita Thompson's laptop, but other personal belongings, such as her TV, clothes, a Prada bag, refrigerated food and her shower head -- is likely random, and the bandits merely broke in Thompson's house to get electronics to take apart and sell for parts on the street -- not to effect a politically motivated "hit." Because it's been six months since the laptop went missing, there's a fairly good chance it was taken apart and sold piece by piece, for drugs or other "instant goods." Still, it does give pause to the question: Are we really safe with anything we write and save on our laptops? Unless you put it in a safe every night (which would defeat the purpose of owning a ready-whenever-you-need-it laptop), it's just not going to be "safe." |
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