By Leo Notenboom
My computer was stolen. It’s password protected, what files can the thieves see?
A reader asks: “My mid-tower computer was recently stolen in
a burglary. The Windows Vista home ultimate system was
password protected at start-up. What files can be accessed
by those trying to enter the system?”
It’ll take a computer savvy thief about 5 minutes to gain
access to everything on your computer.
Yep. Everything.
Everything that you haven’t otherwise protected, that is.
There’s a fundamental premise that I try to remind people of
from time to time. It’s simply this:
If it’s not physically secure, it’s not secure.
[This post is excerpted with Leo’s permission from his Ask Leo blog.]
Leo Notenboom has been involved in the tech industry for nearly 30 years. After retiring from an 18 year career as a Microsoft Software Engineer Leo went on to create Ask Leo!, a free web site where he answers real questions from ordinary computer users.
FaceBook URL: Leo’s Facebook
Twitter URL: http://twitter.com/askleo
