In the UK alone, nearly 9 million absent-minded people have lost their mobile at least once in the last five years. Three in ten people said they keep confidential information like PIN numbers and passwords on their phones.
And we're not just misplacing our own data. Public and private organisations seem to be just as flaky. US space agency NASA has forbidden employees from taking laptops out of the office, if they have sensitive information on them, after several data losses. NASA recently lost laptops containing information used to control the International Space Station.
In the UK, Greater Manchester Police was fined ￡120,000 (around 200,000 US dollars) when an unencrypted memory stick was stolen from an officer's home. The memory stick had details of 1,075 people with links to serious crime investigations.
According to UK law, organisations should use encrypted memory sticks and laptops. If they're lost or stolen, thieves can't read the data without the password. But that only works if you don't also leave behind your password. One health worker in Lancashire lost a memory stick containing the medical details of more than 6,000 people. The data was encrypted, but the password had been written on a note which was attached to the memory stick when it was misplaced.
If we just can't stop leaving our portable technology behind, perhaps we should make it less portable. As the English saying goes 'I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on.'
Quiz 測驗 1. How much did the first portable computer weigh?
11 kilos.
2. Why should organisations use encrypted memory sticks?
So that thieves can't read the data.
3.Which US organisation has lost several laptops?
NASA.
4. Is the following statement true, false or not given? Greater Manchester Police was fined ￡500,000 for losing personal data.
False. They were fined 120,000 pounds.
5.Which types of confidential information do British people keep on their phones?
PIN numbers and passwords.
Glossary 词汇表 portable便攜式的 sewing machine縫紉機 leave it on the bus把某物忘在公車上 forgetting忘記 absent-minded心不在焉 confidential保密的 PIN numbers數字密碼 passwords密碼， 口令 misplacing放錯地方了 data數據 flaky不可靠的 sensitive information敏感信息 data losses數據丟失 International Space Station國際空間站 unencrypted沒有加密的 memory stick記憶棒，儲存卡 serious crime investigations嚴重犯罪調查 encrypted加密的 leaving behind（把隨身物品）忘記了丟下了 I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on倘如頭不是被擰在身上我恐怕連自己的腦袋也會忘記帶上的
