Studies have shown that mobile devices and laptops are often the last thing that administrators think of when beefing up security - in fact, these are updated at 1/4 the frequency of on-site workstations. In fact, 1/6 remote clients do not maintain their security at all. So what are the potential security risks that laptops represent?

Risks

To a potential intruder, a remote laptop offers the following inducements:

That's why a personal firewall is essential.

How a personal firewall works

A personal firewall inspects inbound packets, scanning for forged IP addresses and suspicious repetition (to detect DoS attacks, etc.). Some firewalls can also examine the contents of packets to spot illegitimate use of cookies, questionable Active X content, and virus-bearing e-mail attachments.

Firewall choices

If your company's laptops are running Windows XP, there's a firewall built in. You can enable it with these simple steps:

1. Go to Start | Control Panel | Network And Internet Connections | Network Connections.
2. Single-click on the connection category that you wish to protect (Dial-Up or LAN, High Speed Internet, etc.).
3. From the Task Pane on the left, navigate to Network Tasks | Change Settings Of This Connection | Properties | Advanced.
4. Choose Internet Connection Firewall.
5. Check the box next to Protect My Computer And Network By Limiting Or Preventing Access To This Computer From The Internet.

You can view further details of XP's firewall by clicking here.

If you're not running Windows XP, then consider using one of these listed below:

My personal choice is ZoneAlarm.