Because any MacBook Pro in a table can be easily pick up by thieves, and we do have always our current work there (though all backed up, by Dropbox or external HD), my question is
Should we protect the access to our hard drive?
You would probably, if you travel a lot say yes, but
What software should we use to protect our work with a password?
… and, for example, after 3 wrong attempts, maybe erase all folders that we specified without an option to get it back?
Kinda like what iPhone give us in a business environment that we can, remotely, erase all personal data.
Best Answer
For starters, encrypting your Home folder using FileVault (in the Security Preferences pane) is always a good idea. You might notice a bit of a performance hit (some people say they do, others don't notice a difference), but the tradeoff of additional security can give you some extra peace of mind.
As far as an iPhone-esque "wipe memory after [x] failed login attempts" function, the OS doesn't have anything like that built in, so you'd need to search out a 3rd party solution. I don't have any recommendations offhand for that, but likely someone else here could point you in the right direction.