#180 March, 2006

Computer Theft

... What do you stand to lose?

Did you read my UGN "SafeNet " article "Computer Theft - Will you be the next victim? " ... did you act on it? Did you understand that the next computer theft will occur in 53 seconds? Did you protect yourself?

Do you remember my post last year about my daughter's PowerBook that flashed orange flames from the back, then caught fire and died? I replaced that aluminum G4 with a new one via our homeowner's insurance policy. Last week the new laptop was stolen. Gone.

She pulled into a filling station on an ordinary day, dutifully locked the car to run inside for a soda and a phone card. Maybe five minutes. When she returned, the car door had been forced open and the new aluminum G4 PowerBook and charger in its laptop case were gone.

We suspect the thieves followed her from a nearby "hot spot" where she had been using the laptop. Bystanders said a green car pulled up close, and two men broke in and sped off. No one tried to stop it. No one cried alert. There was no security alarm on the old car. The station's security videos were turned off that day. Insurance has declined to cover this one.

What to do?

1) Make the data difficult to access: When travelling with a laptop, always LOG OUT, and shut down. The data is more important than the laptop. If you lose the hardware it's only hardware. If you lose your identity, you could be in trouble.

2) Hide and encrypt sensitive data -- or better yet, DO NOT HAVE charge card numbers, social security numbers, drivers' license numbers or bank account numbers on the computer at all. Or, at least separate them into separate files so no one can figure out where they are or how to put them together. Also be careful about online IDs and Passwords for sites you purchase from. Be careful about access to servers, online accounts, email accounts, FTP passwords and IDs -- all of which can be exploited.

3) Etch or Engrave identification on the underside. Make it clear that the laptop belongs to you. Make it difficult to remove.

4) Subscribe to a laptop recovery service. The thief will sell the computer after attempting to gain any identity theft information or usable data. The future buyer will probably not know it was stolen -- and even if they do, will probably not buy or download the necessary software to erase or breach the OS. They probably won't have a boot CD. (Unless they're real pros, and in that case all is lost anyway.)

5) Back up completely to external media BEFORE you leave for trips.

6) Ask yourself: "What do I stand to lose if this is stolen or lost."

If you have a laptop, and travel with it, I recommend you go back and read that article again -- and again and again -- until you protect yourself. After writing the article I had fully intended to protect her computer with one of the packages I wrote about. But I never got around to it.

Yes, I know -- you're thinking the very same thing I did... it can't happen here.

But it did.

Thanks for reading...

Fred Showker

Editor: DTG Magazine and 60-Second Windows contact me!

Again: Computer Theft - Will you be the next victim? at www.user-groups.net/safenet/

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