Physical Theft
Having physical access to a computer system allows an adversary to bypass most security
protections put in place to prevent unauthorized access. By stealing a computer system, the
adversary has all the physical access he could want, and unless the sensitive data on the system is encrypted, the data is very likely to be compromised. This issue is most prevalent
with laptop loss and theft. Given the processing and storage capacity of even low-cost laptops
today, a great deal of sensitive information can be put at risk if a laptop containing this data is
stolen. In May 2006, for example, it was revealed that over 26 million military veterans’
personal information, including names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and some
disability data, was on a Veteran Affairs staffer’s laptop that was stolen from his home [2].
The stolen data was of the type that is often used to commit identity theft, and due to the
large number of impacted veterans, there was a great deal of concern about this theft and the
lack of security around such a sensitive collection of data.