How to keep your sensitive data secure

We all have digital information we wish to keep private, from Word documents filled with organisation notes about a surprise party to work files and folders that contain commercially sensitive facts and figures. But knowing how to keep such data secure and away from nosy-parkers is not always obvious.

For starters, there are many different ways to make files and folders private. And some options available in Windows XP are not on offer in Vista and vice versa. So, finding the right starting point can be tricky.

In this guide we will explore various techniques for protecting files and folders you would prefer were seen by your eyes only.

Where to start?
Begin by deciding what you want to achieve. For some the privacy problem will relate to using a work computer to store private files, perhaps to work on updating a CV during your lunch break – things you would rather your boss did not see.

We are not going to delve deeply into this area because ensuring privacy on a PC you do not own is fraught with difficulty. Besides, it may go against your employer’s usage policies, ­ so check. Our advice is not to keep personal or private files on a work PC.

Our focus is on securing files on a home PC shared by or accessible to other members of the household.

An obvious way to keep others from accessing private files and folders stored on a shared PC is to create separate user accounts for each person who has access to the computer. Get it wrong, though, and any sense of security you attach to this method will be false.

The key is to understand the different types of user account. Both Windows XP and Vista offer two types of user account ­ computer administrator and standard user. Standard users (called limited users in Windows XP) can change their own login passwords and personal icons, make use of applications installed for all users and create and save new documents ­ but that is about all.

Because a standard or limited account has its own password, which can be changed by the account-owner, it is easy for the account owner to believe their files and folders are safely protected behind this password. But that is not the case.

Set up an administrator account
The reason is that every Windows PC must have at least one administrator account. A user logged in with an administrator account has the ability to gain access to all areas of the PC.

Put another way, administrators do not need individual account passwords to see what files and folders have been created by standard or limited users. Owners of standard or limited accounts can prevent other standard or limited accounts from viewing their personal files, but that’s all.