Datasheet

still, as you lay out your security plan and find out about Vista security features
and functionality, keep in mind what value you place on your computing
hardware and software. Consider the following relative to hardware and
software security:
 Hardware: Protection against theft or damage from natural disasters
isn’t something that Vista can provide; however, as you develop your
security plan (see Chapter 2), you need to be cognizant of hardware.
Throughout the book (particularly in Chapter 18), I cover some of the
third-party security tools that can help you mitigate some security risks
associated with your hardware.
 Software: Vista provides various security features that enable you to fur-
ther secure the configuration of your software applications and better
protect your system and data from compromise. In addition, as part of
your security plan, consider properly securing physical access to your
software and associated licensing information. Although Vista can’t help
you with this, it is an important part of your security plan. For more
information regarding your security plan, see Chapter 2.
 Availability: Protecting the availability of your system is ensuring that
your hardware and software are available to you when needed. If you,
like many of us, depend on your system to perform essential functions,
then having it unavailable might not be a mere inconvenience but per-
haps translate into real financial loss. Vista offers various security fea-
tures that provide you some protection and ability to restore your
system quickly in case of an OS or software failure. Various third-party
tools are also available that can provide you some level of availability
protection; see Chapter 18.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is information that can be used to
uniquely identify you, such as your name, address, driver’s license, Social
Security number, medical records, financial files, and more. Even if you might
not fully understand how valuable your personal information is, crooks who
perpetrate lucrative crimes (such as identity theft) will and do go to great
lengths to harvest it. A piece of your information here, a piece there — pretty
soon they have enough of your information to pretend to be you. Perhaps
getting a utility service in your name, posing as you when receiving a traffic
ticket, getting a credit card in your name, or even purchasing a car or house
in your name! Sounds far-fetched? Think again — it happens every day.
For many of us this personal information, or bits and pieces of it, is often
contained in various documents, spreadsheets, or other programs on our
personal computers. After all, we have our computers so that we can be
20
Part I: Vista Security Essentials
05_118054 ch01.qxp 10/11/07 9:38 AM Page 20