This sort of stuff will only go on for a few more years until the distributed process and universal namespace sorts of approaches replace the current paradigms. When that happens losing a laptop will mean nothing because it won't have the data 'on it' in the conventional sense. On Sun, 24 Feb 2002, John Young wrote:
We've noted here the rise in "lost" and "stolen" laptops containing sensitive and classified information. First, one or two disappeared while a spook was drunk or was left behind in a taxi or taken from an unidentified location.
Then amazing reports of more losses, the number rising quickly, finally with surveys revealing hundreds of laptops have been lost by spooks, cops, senior officals, nuclear labs, state departments, and so on. Now and then encryption is mentioned.
We can see that the lost laptop, and its recent corollary, the discovered laptop, has become as useful for disinformation as what is being found in newly revealed secret archives like those reported today in the Wash Post, "Spies, Lies and the Distortion of History:"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55522-2002Feb23.html
To be sure, the flood of lost laptops both diminishes the credibility of what is on the laptops and increases it. One way to increase credibility is to claim files are encrypted.
What we also know is that encrypted files are now a leading indicator of credibility, along with the shadowy and enticing methods used to decrypt by unidentified parties, and to then carefully distribute the decrypted, authenticated thereby, if demonized, material.
Whether there is actually sensitive material in the demonized files is hard to determine so long as access to the original files, and a credible account of how they were comeby is not made available. As with the long history of astonishing revelations of secrets, lies and videotapes.
Moving to a related topic, is the use of the Internet for
leaking and/or psyopping disinformation, in particular the use of honeypots.
Cryptome is occasionally charged with being a honeypot, and it could be, wittingly so if we are succesful in putting up lurid material to bring in more luridities. A question though is what information is being gathered by Cryptome honeypot? The access logs, the pattern and content of publication, the receipt of hot material, the distribution of lies and deceptions? And if these are the profits of the honeypot how is the data collection about them being done?
We dream of being able to watch the honeypot harvestors at work, which accounts for admitting to running a honeypot, our lost laptop if you will. This hoary rabbit-running practice, you being the rabbit, as we see here with several practitioners, carries a Daniel Pearl-like risk. You may well lose your head to somebody who believes you are a wolf not merely a headgames-player.