Laptop or notebook computers are one of the greatest inventions since the PC itself. While they used to be underpowered and relegated to running word processing software and spreadsheets, today's laptop computers can rival the processing power of all but the biggest desktops. In fact, many people use a laptop exclusively.

That's the good news. The bad news is that your data is more in danger on a notebook than it ever was on a PC. Here's the scoop.

By it's very nature a laptop is a portable computer. As a result many people take theirs with them wherever they go. The more that you travel with your laptop the higher the threat.

According to Safeware Insurance Group 53% more laptops were stolen this year than last. Theft is the #1 threat to your laptop. These thefts can occur at airports, restaurants, your hotel room, anywhere that you leave your laptop unattended even for a few moments. Theft is a double-edged sword. Not only do you lose your laptop, but you lose everything that was stored inside it. This could be business proposals and contracts, all of your contacts, and your sensitive personal information like bank accounts and PINs.  There is no end to the bad things that can happen when thieves get a hold of your data.

The second threat to your laptop is having it connected to foreign networks. This happens when you visit a client and plug your laptop into their network, or when you get broadband internet connectivity. Unless you have the proper protection on your laptop you are subject to getting any viruses that the network has and you are also open to having your laptop "scanned" by an unscrupulous employee who is out to steal your data.

Of course, there is also the ever-present danger of just dropping the darn thing and having it break into pieces.

There are many different solutions available to lock down your laptop and protect it form theft and attack.  Here are some examples:

You can protect yourself from someone simply picking up your laptop and walking away with it by using products like Kryptonite's KryptoVault ($79.95) which uses steel "arms" to secure your laptop to your desk. You can unlock then when you need to travel. When you are traveling then you might want to pick up products like Kryptonite's Cable or Kensington Lock's MicroSaver ($74.99), Secure-It's Kablit, X-Lock and iBook cable locks ($29.95 each) or the Vanguard II that attaches to the 9-pin adapter on the back of your laptop and then gets secured to any nearby immovable object.

Then there's the Targus DEFCON 1 Notebook Computer Security System ($49.99) which includes a motion sensor that sounds a 45 second, 110 dB alarm if the cable gets cut or the laptop is moved.

Besides theft deterrents there are always recovery products like Absolute Software's CompuTrace ($49.95 for software and 1 year of monitoring) which can track and locate your PC should the thief ever connect it to the Internet. It's sort of like LoJack for your laptop.

If you're into really high-tech solutions then consider getting Caveo Technology's Caveo Anti-Theft solution. It works by installing a motion sensor into an available card slot. You create a special "tilt pattern" that your laptop recognizes as your special password. If anyone tries to turn on the computer without first tilting it in the pattern that you've defined then it locks itself down and powers off.

Of course, none of these solutions will help you protect yourself against hacking and virus attacks, but don't worry -- we've got you covered there. Read these articles listed below and you'll be all set.

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