Do you use a University laptop?
10 Jun 2010
Encrypt your machine to keep information safe
Staff who use University-owned laptops for their work should take steps to ensure the information held on them is secure by having them encrypted.
Encryption is the most effective method of preventing unauthorised access to data on laptops. This involves entering a pass-phrase known only to the custodian of the laptop to access information.
A lost or stolen laptop can have serious consequences, for example:
- If it contains the personal and/or sensitive details of staff, students, or research participants the University may be in breach of the Data Protection laws and good practice which can result in significant reputational damage and cost (see: Data Protection Guidance)
- Where it contains research or unpublished academic material, the intellectual property may be at risk
- When laptops are used to connect to the University's administrative systems and email they may contain sufficient information to enable unauthorised access
Many staff have already taken steps to ensure the information they hold on laptops is secure and over 450 laptops have been encrypted to date. However, all University-owned laptops should be encrypted.
If your laptop isn't encrypted, please to arrange for this to be done by contacting:
The process may take a day to complete, so you may need to plan this into your schedule.
For further information, please contact your local IT Services team.