very basic security is to ensure all users must log onto the computer with a password or biometric fingerprint access
ensure only reliable and knowledgable users had admin rights, all others should have guest account rights only to reduce risk of viral attacks as well as physical attacks.
Of course, you need up to date antiviral software installed and a firewall installed to help prevent viral attack but even then you must be aware NOT to click on links within phishing scam emails, SMS or social media messages and don't respond to and give out passwords or the like to cold call phone calls which purport to be from Microsoft or the ATO, etc.
the above might seem OK but most computer literate guys can hack through all your information with ease if they have physical access to the computer
sure you can password protect individual important files such as Microsoft Word, Excel and databases, but these won't protect everything such as your email, contacts and general documents and in any case, these passwords tend to be quite low levels of security which can generally be accessed by a determined person.
furthermore, when you delete a file, the file is not actually deleted from the physical drive but only appears to be deleted - a computer savvy person can analyse the raw data on a drive to detect this data. If it is really important, after deleting the file, either add non-sensitive data to fill the drive up and over-write the data, or use special software to securely erase the data.
a particular risk is the use of USB drives which are extremely easy to have lost or stolen.
your piece of mind is likely to be far more important than this poor attempt at security, so YOU MUST ENCRYPT your data as well as ensure it is BACKED UP!!
if your laptop has security technology from
Absolute pre-installed in the BIOS at the factory, then you have the option of paying a subscription for their
LoJack for Laptops software to activate this technology which will allow you to remotely delte files and lock down the laptop as well as potentially locate it in a similar manner to your iPhone or iPad.