Archive for January, 2007

Here is some security video footage of a laptop being stolen in broad daylight from a computer store.

One of the employees of the store posted this security footage and recounts the experience on his blog:

He walks around the shop a bit more, looks out the back to where he can see our security monitor, so he can see exactly what we’re recording, and then heads over to one of the laptops. He folds the lid down, then looks up at the counter where there’s still the couple and our retail lady are. He gets in between the line of view from those three and the laptop. He picks it up with one hand, walks away with it a bit, does a kinda swing around motion, and then slips it into his jacket, grabs his cellphone out of his pocket, and pretends to talk on it as he walks out of the shop!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was watching this, it was insane, there were four staff members plus two customers in the shop and this guy tries his luck, and gets away with it! He’s gotta be fucking stupid though, he blatantly looks towards the cameras on several occasions.

If you read through, you’ll see a very interesting story that resulted from posting this video online. The video became very popular and was featured in many news articles and even on tv. At one point, a police officer was able to identify the thief, and from the last update to the post, they were charging him with the theft.

Now, this is a very extraordinary case of laptop theft and recovery, but it sheds some light on just how bold thieves can be.

Tags: laptop theft, caught on video, laptop thief

Miguel Guhlin and Absolute Software’s CEO John Livingston had an incredibly detailed discussion about CompuTrace, which is now posted on MGuhlin.net

Miguel had done a project about protecting deleted files, and had given some misleading information about Absolute Software’s CompuTrace product. John Livingston then did the right thing, which was to contact Miguel and start a conversation.

What ensued is a very positive discussion about CompuTrace, tracking technology, and how these are positive forces in schools. The conversation is a little technical, going into the potential technical skill of laptop thieves in removing CompuTrace, essentially nullifying it, but it is a positive discussion.

I also want to point you to the comment on the post, which was written by a happy CompuTrace customer who purchased the product for over 800 laptops in a school. This kind of unsolicited customer feedback is always great and makes for a great case study:

“I heard about Computrace, and purchased it for all our laptops. We announced that all laptops now had software that would be able to locate these lost or stolen machines. After that, our losses from incidents like I’ve described dropped to ZERO!” – Steven Eisenberg

Tags: computrace, laptop security, education security, laptops in schools, laptop theft, thieves, boot-n-nuke

Last week the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) announced that it had lost a hard drive containing personal information on almost 500,000 mutual fund customers. CIBC does not have the best track record for security, but for two years has had a clean security bill of health.

Now, people are wondering, just how safe is their personal banking information?

In Canada, there’s even a pesky little law that is so stringent on privacy of Canadians that companies don’t have to inform customers when their data goes missing. How messed up is that?

“Individuals in today’s world are very, very exposed to privacy theft,” said David Young, co-chair of the privacy law group at Lang Michener LLP. “There are instances occurring on quite a regular basis, and they never reach the media.”

So, how can people ensure that their information does not lead to potential fraud, and how can companies & governments ensure the data never is lost?

First is legislation – updating privacy laws. In Canada, that means telling people when there is a breach of security. This could lead to more public pressure to clean things up. More than 30 US States already have this mandatory reporting in place.

Second, understanding when a breach is significant. Not all lost laptops contain personal information.

Third, put in place penalties for breaches that go beyond just being embarassed – placing a fiscal outcome on significant breaches. This could trigger a whole new wave of companies attempting to strengthen their security protocols internally, as well as externally (laptops).

Via Globe & Mail ; Tags: cibc, laptop theft, data theft, fraud, privacy laws, legislation

Discovery Channel’s “Security Sisters” today featured a program on security and laptop theft. The show, which aired on January 23rd at 10am and will reair on February 15 at 6pm, features a theft in a college sorority and how to learn security 101.

DSC — It Takes a Thief Security Sisters It’s back to school for Matt and Jon when they find themselves at an off-campus college Sorority house. Jon sets out to steal their expensive jewels, clothes, bags and shoes lying around unprotected! Time for Matt to teach the ladies Security 101.

The program featured Absolute Software’s own LoJack for Laptops as part of the Security 101 training. Tune in for the February re-airing of the show to check us out.

Tags: lojack for laptops, lojack, computrace, laptop security, discovery channel, security 101