Sijun Kang wrote:

> [...] one thing, nowadays, a lot of laptop users store their
> PI in applications which in turn store data in database.

> Unfortunately, I'm one of them. From time to time, I wonder
> if the database can be stored as encrypted when I close that
> application - so that I can have peace of mind and do not
> worry that my data gets to somebody's hand when I lost
> my laptop. A few minutes ago, Dimitry kindly pointed out that
> EFS is what I want. But as I replied, EFS exposes my data to
> all programs and makes it less desireable.

I completely agree that encryption for laptop drives is very
very important. Where we disagree is whether it should be done
on an application-by-application basis. I much prefer the idea
that I can enter my long and secure pass-phrase once as the
system starts up - knowing that swap files, hibernation files
etc etc, will all be encrypted too - rather than entering a
different password for every application and hoping nothing
important will get saved in temporary files or other areas when
I close the lid.

Volume encryption is the real answer for laptops, whether you
choose hardware, EFS or add-ons like Truecrypt. That makes it
easy to encrypt your email, your address book, your database,
your word-processing files, your spread-sheets etc etc etc etc.

> In short, database with encryption seems to have its niche
> in this world.

I am sure there is ... I am less sure that niche is at all
flattering.

--
Geoff Worboys
Telesis Computing