The Point
There are two points to this story. One, there is a little reminder about naivete and protecting personal belongings when vacationing. Second, the PalmPilot is an amazing tool that allows you to easily retrieve information. It has built-in redundancy that will save you a great deal of trouble during times of crisis. I could have lost or broken my PalmPilot just as easily as having it stolen and the subsequent lessons would remain the same.

What irks me the most, though, is that someone has all of my information. Due to this experience and subsequent analysis, I learned a number of things that may help you prevent the loss of sensitive data, limit your exposure, and help you protect and recover your information. And maybe keep the cost of your vacation down.

The Lessons
After hot-synching my new PalmPilot, I searched the unit record-by-record for items that represented a security risk such as credit card numbers, log-ins, PINs (Personal Identification Numbers), account numbers, etc. I did find a number of sensitive records, unprotected and very easy for the thief to read! I was now vulnerable and had to cancel some accounts and change some IDs.

Protecting your data
What I learned was that to protect your PalmPilot data, you should rank your information and place it into three categories:

1. General data: Names and addresses, general information, directions, day to day To Do items, etc. It doesn't matter if this kind of information is viewed by others.
2. Private data: Doctor information, personal medical information, etc. This is information you would probably prefer not be viewed by others, but has no financial value.
3. Security data: PINs, account numbers, passwords, login IDs, etc. This critical information could be costly to lose and should be password protected and encrypted.

Protecting your data after categorizing it in this manner requires a three-pronged approach and will cost around $30. Well worth the investment for peace of mind!

General data
General data could be considered anything that would not be too harmful to you, no matter who got it. Even so, you would rather not let anyone have it. Since you probably keep all personal and business contacts, appointments, and To Dos in your PalmPilot, this information is inherently valuable. This type of data will require protection that will disable access to the PalmPilot should it be lost or stolen. To protect your data in this manner you should install a program called Check-In. Check-In is a security application for the 3Com Pilot or PalmPilot. When combined with PowerHack, it can automatically secure the PalmPilot device, password-protecting your data, and provide contact details (and even offering a reward-a good idea) to aid a safe return should the machine get lost or stolen.

Check-In displays the current time, date, and contact information. It also provides several configurable options, including one to set a 'grace period', after which the PalmPilot is password-secured. There is also an option to display entered passwords in either plain text, or as asterisks, and an option to switch to a user-defined application every time the PalmPilot is turned on. These features make the Check-In program a must have. Check-In's security options range from displaying a simple welcome screen, to fully locking the PalmPilot every time it is powered off, providing the flexibility to suit your individual needs.