Greetings....
I've been told that WinXP, as well as Win2k and WinNT, has a (fairly) secure screensaver password scheme.
It's Windows, therefore it's insecure.
Could, for example, a curious/malevolent colleague gain access over lunch assuming
no prior knowledge of a reasonable (nonsensical) password (10 alphanumeric figures
plus a special character or two)? I have a vague recollection of some utilities
that can quickly/easily reveal a WinXP screen saver password.
As Wayne and Rick said; one CD, about 4 keystrokes and 2 reboots and we could be in. Even password protecting the BIOS won't keep us out, that only needs an extra reboot to fix.
My advice is to keep sensitive data on 2 different types of media in 2 different places; one in an encrypted file on a CD or DVD and one on some type of encrypted USB flash drive. The CD/DVD can be hidden somewhere (only brought out for daily or weekly backups) and the flash drive kept on your person. It's amazing just how much info will fit on a 1gb Flash drive!
If you want to be a bit more paranoid, you can create a RAMdrive when booting, take your files from the Flash drive and load them on to the RAMdrive then remove and re-hide the flash drive. That way when Rick Wayne and I get into your PC, there's nothing there because the RAMdrive was cleared when we rebooted. Remember to put the files back on to the Flash drive BEFORE you shut down or leave for lunch!
Never ever trust Windows to keep your data secure. -- Andy
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