This is particularly true for travellers, with their accompanying portable computers which can be left behind at an airport, hotel or be stolen. It is not only travellers that are at great risk. It seems that burglars understand the real value of data. Potentially every computer used for business stores some data that should not be accessed by unauthorized people. Even at home, parents probably have some files they would like to be protected.
Security is even more important in data communication.
Using e-mail today is similar to sending confidential messages on a post card. The only way to protect information is to encrypt it. On the other hand, if you have encrypted your data with a misspelled password or you have forgotten the password, it will become absolutely impossible for you to restore the data. So, encryption is a double edged sword - first spend your money to buy security software, then lose your data by forgetting the password. Security professionals follow certain rules to avoid such situations, but the majority of people do not have the time or the experience to become security professionals.