The BBC has reported an interesting story. It appears that the UK’s Customs & Excise department is scanning the laptops of suspected offendors for illicit materials, namely offensive pornography. Wanting to prevent the import of offensive materials is an appladable desire. However, given that certain nations, including some in the EU, have a history of using government agencies to perform industrial espionage to aid their native companies, I do have a problem with this action.
Interestingly, the person who reported this story said their laptop could not be scanned by the agents on hand because it was an Apple. The agents had no idea what encryption was either.
So, if you do not want company secrets to be stolen by a governement agency of some nation, make sure you encrypt your laptops hard disk.