Another way is to use secure connections for e-mail. Microsoft Exchange servers encrypt data by default. If you use an IMAP or POP3 server, and it supports SSL, you can go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > your account > Advanced on your iPad and enable it there.

Although Data Protection encrypts your e-mail attachments, the moment you send them to an app such as Pages, it is protected by the iPad's basic encryption only. If you're really worried about such documents, you can use a special secure e-mail server tool like and its free companion iPad app. Good locks encrypted e-mail attachments (and files downloaded from its secure browser) inside the app, which means you can read them, but not edit them.

If you do lose your iPad, one of the first things you should do is change your password on any services--such as Dropbox or iDisk--that you connected to from it.

Finally, consider getting the app. It enables good password habits (a different, complex password for every site), it syncs with your Mac and other devices over the network or via DropBox, and it stores secure notes and other information as well as passwords. It even includes its own embedded Web browser for logging into sites without having to copy-and-paste your credentials.

Rich Mogull has worked in the security world for 17 years. He writes for TidBits and works as a security analyst through .