Make sure your next computer has this security feature before making the purchase!

Many of us use our computers on a daily basis to check bank information, organize information about our families, employees, work, & ourselves. If you are like most people, your computer contains data such as usernames, passwords, social security numbers, medical information, addresses, and more whether you realize it or not.  The scary part is that most people don’t take basic, and easy to implement, precautions.  Many of us subscribe to the “it won’t be me” mentality.  It’s only when it’s too late that people realize that they should have taken action before a costly incident happens.

When purchasing your next computer, make sure that it has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip built in. It will be easy to identify in the specifications of the computer.  TPM is a chip that is built into many modern computers. It integrates with Windows to provide encryption of all your data on your hard drive.

When BitLocker, Microsoft Window’s encryption software, is enabled, everything saved to the hard drive is secured with encryption. If a computer is lost or stolen, the thieves would have a very difficult time retrieving any data from the computer, given that there is a “strong” password setup. Even if someone were to remove the hard drive from the machine itself and connect it to another computer, they would be unable to see the contents because the TPM chip is not available.

The great thing about this technology is that it’s free with Windows 10 if you have the right hardware. The only downside is that it’s critical to make sure you have good backups, because if your computer breaks, your data will be inaccessible, even to you.

Tips

• Purchase a computer with a TPM 2.0 Chip
• Make sure to enable encryption on your machine especially if you travel with a laptop
• Confirm BitLocker is working – it takes time to encrypt the hard drive the first time
• Set a strong password with at least 8 characters and include uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters
• Make sure all your computer accounts have a password
• Delete any unnecessary accounts on your machine

At JNT TEK, we can advise and procure hardware for any size organization.  If you are in the market for a new computer, and want our expert advice, reach out to us!

Written By
JNT TEK
818-456-0626
sales@jnttek.com