What are the benefits of desktop and laptop encryption from a compliance standpoint?
It is mandatory under MA Privacy Law 201 CMR 17 and under Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) on any computer containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and/or credit card data. The real benefit is that a lost laptop that “might” contain such data will be unreadable to anyone other than the company and/or owner. This provides a safeguard that eliminates the risk of violation as today most companies have difficulty knowing exactly what’s stored on the computer. But the question I raise at my presentations is: Can you afford to be on the front page of your newspaper or the 6 and 11 o’clock news. The obvious answer is everyone should encrypt to protect privileged data from being read if (really when) a laptop is stolen. Are there separate challenges in encrypting Macs vs Windows PCs? There are only two companies that offer Mac encryption – PGP and Check Point and since Apple does not play nice in the sand box, the vendors cannot deliver a single sign-on solutio
