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Hi everyone!
as a relatively new user of AC I have this question:
for HIPAA security they are recommending encrypting our hard drive on our laptops.
Does encrypting the hard drive with something like Truecrypt interfere with using AC or the back ups?
would appreciate any info.
thanks
Bala

I do not know the answer - I know you can encrypt your backup. I guess you need to decide how much you want to do - if you are carrying your backup in your car then an encrypted or locked up copy might be appropriate looking at the history of stolen laptops, etc. I personally look at this in the office like saying that to make it secure I would have to write all handwritten notes in a secret code so that if someone broke in and read their chart they could not decipher it.....I think at some point we have to say we did our best and to do more is extreme.

I would not encrypt my drives in my office.

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It's possible. You'd have to make a TrueCrypt Encrypted partition. Install AC there. I haven't tested it though.

Recommended: The alternative would be using BitLocker (part of Win 7 Ultimate/Enterprise and all Server Operating Systems). It's mainly to protect against physical theft. Not up there on most people's lists.

I mean if you have Everyone on your Network Share Permissions, it's probably easier to steal data that way. Take care of Network Security, then work on physical security. I.e. keeping the server in a locked room/your office. I keep my server in a locked supply closet. Not originally for security purposes, but because it was so loud.

I agree with Sandeep. Please check out bitlocker. It is awesome and has very low overhead.

JamesNT

I've considered same. Will bitlocker slow down my main server significantly? I am concerned about physical theft of the server. If this is not encrypted and is stolen from the office it will be very ugly. I've held off as i'm concerned about bitlocker slowing down the system. Is it doable?
THanks,
Art

This depends on your system. Two main things that will affect the speed are the processor and the hard drive speed.

As I mentioned in my previous post, bitlocker has very low overhead. You should barely notice any difference.

JamesNT

Interesting Read: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bitlocker-truecrypt-encryption,2587.html

TrueCrypt vs. Bitlocker.

As James says, as long as you're not using a pentium 4 or something like that from the old days, you'll be fine.

thank you all very much for your suggestions .
I had looked into Truecrypt and bit locker .
I do not have windows ultimate except on one computer but am trying to see if I can buy it separately.
I was a little uneasy in using truecrypt as I do not know how this will affect the rest of my system and AC tech support states that it will interfere with backup , so I may try it on my laptop only.
Bitlocker has the advantage that it can be turned off but dont see that with Truecrypt.
apparently CMS and HIPAA are wanting encrypted drives on all mobile devices
thanks again
Bala

I don't take my laptop with the database on it out of the office - I use logmein which makes you not have to deal with syncing, etc. I think you are just asking for trouble carrying your pt. database in your car.

I meant to say that. :-)

Yep, SBS 2011 automatically enforces that on mobile devices that connect to Exchange. My phone will automatically erase itself if someone types in the password wrong 10 times. It also gives me the ability to erase my phone remotely if I were to lose it or if it was stolen.

For the no headache upgrade to Ultimate use this (Win 7 Home Premium to Ultimate Anytime Upgrade): http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Win...UTF8&qid=1337628974&sr=1-1-spell

thanks Sandeep for all the suggestions
will try bit locker and see , not sure how my wireless connectivity will be affected though.
Has anyone tried it ?
Bala

Wireless activity is not affected by bitlocker.

JamesNT

Just be sure if you do enable it, keep the recovery key and password in a secure location. Probably in an offsite backup if possible. If you lose those, a restore is pretty much impossible, which is the purpose of it. Also, for computers without a TPM module, you don't get that Windows Integrity Checker. If what I'm saying is foreign to you, you need to research BitLocker a little bit more before you implement it.

I'll throw my update in here. My main "server" is an HP 8200 pc w/ windows 7 pro that I got from tigerdirect. It came with a software suite from HP that included whole drive encryption. It looks like it is software licensed by hp from Mcafee for sale w/ their business class machines. In any case, it is running now with no appreciable change in performance and my system is now encrypted.

I wouldn't do it for HIPAA. Would do it for my own peace of mind. I agree with Steven. Encryption for offsite and none of onsite. I don't worry about it too much. Stolen, oh well.

But, the best thing to do would be a locked closet or a locked office. But, for those who do encrypt, that is great.

Agreed. Encrypting the drive can make the restoration much trickier. Just make sure you take the necessary precautions if you choose to implement encryption.