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Laptop Theft Prevention
These recommendations can help you keep your laptop or handheld on your lap, and out of thieves' hands.
Objectives and Scope
Your laptop: sometimes big and heavy enough to make you think it could never be stolen, but small enough for a miscreant to carry away unnoticed. Whether you're on the road, at home, at the office, in the holidays, etc., your laptop – or handheld computer is a strong temptation to potential thieves - for reasons ranging from the machine's actual worth to the value of the data it might contain, we have assembled a list of steps you can take to keep your laptop safe and secure.
Recommendations
Never leave your laptop unattended.
A computer lock can be used to secure your laptop while you are away.
Regularly purge unneeded data files from your laptop. The same goes for PDAs. People tend to store more personal data - including passwords and PINs - on PDAs than they do on laptops.
Always lock offices and accommodation where the laptop is left.
Never check the laptop as baggage. If you have to check in your laptop, remove battery and hard drive(s) and carry these items separately in your cabin luggage. If traveling with a laptop in airports, you must maintain line-of-sight control of it.
When transporting a laptop in a vehicle, it must be placed in the vehicle's trunk or carsafe. If the vehicle doesn't have a trunk, e.g., a minivan or sports utility vehicle, then the laptop must be within the user's line-of-sight control at all times when transporting. If you leave the vehicle unattended for any reason, you must keep the laptop stowed in the trunk. If the vehicle has no trunk, then you must carry the laptop with you and maintain line-of-sight control. Never leave the laptop in any vehicle overnight for any reason.
At hotels lock your laptop away, e.g. into a safe if possible.
Avoid using obvious laptop bags or brief cases. Use a backpack or duffel bag to camouflage your computer and never use a bag with a company's name on it.
Back up all important data daily, e.g. a onto USB-drive (stick, hard drive).
Even think about all your nice photos you shot during your trip!
If possible use a security device such as steel cable locks security plates or alarms to secure your laptop computer.
Take advantage of password locking features included in your laptop operation manual.
Encryption programs offer an added level of security by encoding the data into a coded form.
Ensure that your laptop is registered with your company if you do not use a private one.
For getting back stolen devices there’s anti-theft software available on the market.
Check to have insurance for your laptop. In addition, homeowner and renters insurance sometimes covers stolen or damaged computers.
Always contact the police in the event of a theft.
It is not guaranteed that these prevention techniques will prevent the theft of a laptop computer. However, using a combination of these techniques will significantly reduce your risk of being a victim of theft.
Hint
Did you know that a laptop battery can be reloaded only 500 – 1.000 cycles?
Plug-out your battery while working with AC/DC power increases the lifetime of your battery!
Go to the Travel with Broadband webpages.
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