Holiday season is quickly approaching and many people will be traveling to visit family and friends. Whether it’s a cross-country road trip or a flight, this is also a risky time to be traveling with a laptop, since it’s busier than usual and theft is more common. Therefore, if you’re planning to travel with your computer, it might be a good idea to review some suggestions for keeping your machine safe.
Avoid storing your laptop in the overhead compartment, close and put away your laptop if you leave your seat and during service times (to avoid having a drink accidentally spilled on your computer), try to keep your laptop within your own seating area and don’t angle it into the aisle which makes it vulnerable to being knocked to the ground or stolen.
Before you leave home, back up all your data before and remove any private information, including anything that might be considered espionage or adult in nature, since your laptop could be searched by Customs. And be prepared to decrypt any encrypted files. Another option is to keep files on a service that you can access remotely, like Google Docs, so you don’t have to keep any information on your computer. Also, bring your receipt if your laptop is new and remember to bring a voltage adapter.
A Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association employee broke protocol by transferring the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and provider identification numbers of about 800,000 doctors to his personal laptop.
Unfortunately, his computer was stolen from his car this past August but, as of yet, there haven’t been any signs of identity theft.
The affected physicians have been informed and, thankfully, no patient information was included in the database.
A representative for the health insurance company was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying: “At this point, we have no evidence that the data was misused. We think this was a random criminal act. Regardless, we take these kinds of breaches extremely seriously and so we are alerting all doctors in the database.”
In an attempt to offset any negative consequences associated with the theft of the laptop, the Blue Cross association is offering crediting monitoring services to the individuals whose Social Security information was exposed.
It goes without saying that this is really a worst-case scenario, since so many could be affected by this breach and the laptop hasn’t been recovered. This is an unfortunate example of how the mistakes of a single person could after thousands of people.
In a situation like this, using a program like Computrace would be helpful since sensitive data can be deleted remotely and the Theft Recovery Team will work with local police to try to find the stolen laptop – and the thief who stole it. And once the they have the laptop back, Computrace can be used to help determine if files were accessed post-theft. While it would still be important to be vigilant for signs of identity theft, the risk would be considerably lower.
A woman in Jacksonville, Florida was the victim of a home invasion which, in itself, is a scary thing to go through. The thieves made off with jewellery and electronics, including the woman’s laptop, but they didn’t know that she had installed Computrace LoJack for Laptops on her computer. “Within 24 hours of it being reported stolen, they already had one hit on it,” said Shannon Mercer.
While her laptop was sold several times before being returned to her, she felt that she got her revenge in the end. “When someone breaks into your house, you feel violated. To get a piece of it back is pretty neat,” said Mercer.
You can get more information on LoJack for Laptops here. In the meantime, watch the video of Mercer’s fascinating story!
Lenovo and Absolute have introduced a new service called Lost & Found which makes it very easy to return a ThinkPad laptop to its owner. A lost laptop can be catastrophic in so many ways – a business could lose money, data breaches may occur and that’s not even including the lost time and productivity.
The Lost & Found service is available exclusively on Thinkpad laptops that have been enabled with Absolute’s Computrace for Lenovo at no extra cost.
This is a great deal since it is free with Computrace for Lenovo and it can help give ThinkPad laptop owners some peace of mind. Our lives are so busy and, while it might seem that a laptop is a large item to misplace, it’s pretty common for a laptop bag or case to get forgotten on the bus or under the table at a restaurant. Just at US airport alone, 12,000 go missing each week.
It’s also very useful since people who find computers may not know exactly what to do with them. Lost & Found takes the guesswork out of the process so that the lost laptop gets back to its owner as quickly as possible.
Earlier this month, PC World posted a true story about a man who was able to recover his stolen laptops using a free remote-access service, LogMeIn.
The story was this: David Krop left 2 laptops in his SUV in a parking garage while he attended a meeting. The computers were stolen and they weren’t even password protected. However, David had a trial access of LogMeIn installed, which allowed him to remotely access his laptop. He was able to use this service to see that his stolen laptop was being used by its alleged thief. By spying on this person, and collecting all his personal information as he browsed the internet (including his face via a video chat), Krop was able to supply information to the police. The police were then able to recover the laptop.
Now, this sounds like a good deal, right? However, it’s a pretty a-typical situation to be in, and does not guarantee laptop recovery. The scenario depended on many factors, including:
That the unauthorized user did not dismiss the tracking icon that appeared when his laptop activity was being watched
That the unauthorized user would reveal a wide variety of detailed personal information while using the laptop (phone number, email address, face)
That the unauthorized user wouldn’t wipe all the existing software off the computer
As you can see, using LogMeIn or other free laptop tracking or remote access services is not the same thing as using a dedicated laptop tracking & recovery program and service such as Computrace or LoJack for Laptops from Absolute Software. Only Absolute has a dedicated Theft Recovery Team to work with police to recover your computer. Our software does not require your to sit around waiting for the alleged thief to supply detailed information about him/herself – all investigations and tracking are done on your behalf. And you don’t have to hope to talk a police officer into taking on your case – we have existing relationships with local police around the world. Also, most PCs also now have our software at the BIOS level, protecting it from being wiped if software is deleted. So even if a crafty thief that tries to remove the software, the BIOS firmware will make sure its installed.
David Krop has learned his lesson about leaving his laptop in his car. And he now uses remote tracking software. If you aren’t yet set up to track your laptop, check out our theft recovery products here.
School Laptop Shopping Guide: Buying a new laptop can be a tough decision. This shopping guide will provide helpful suggestions for picking the right machine to meet your needs.
Stolen Laptop! What Should I Do?: Your laptop is missing and aside from panicking, do you know what you should do? There are a number of things that you can do to protect yourself. Read more about what steps to take in the unfortunate event that your laptop is stolen.
For regular updates, you can also follow them on Twitter @lojackforlaptop (corporate customers can also follow updates on Twitter @absolutecorp).
We talk a lot about travel and laptop security here on the blog, but one thing we’ve never discussed is safe in-flight laptop practices. And by “safe” I refer to not just data security, but to keeping your laptop from being damaged in any way during flight.
Mary Jo Manzanares, a flight attendant and travel writer, has put together alist of in-flight laptop precautions that will make you think twice about when – and how – you use your laptop on the airplane. The tips include:
Don’t store your laptop in an overhead bin if it’s in a soft case
Don’t angle your laptop into the aisle
Close and put away your laptop during service periods, so there’s no risk of a beverage tipping onto it (yours or anyone elses)
Keep your laptop within your own seat space
If you leave your seat, close your laptop and put it away or leave it on the seat, not the tray
Other blog posts on travel & laptop security you may wish to read include:
Absolute Software announced this month that geofencing capabilities will now be supported for commercial Computrace customers.
What is geofencing?A geofence is a virtual perimeter on a geographic area using a location-based service, so that when the geofencing device enters or exits the area a notification is generated. The notification can contain information about the location of the device… – Wikipedia
The Absolute geofencing feature allows IT asset managers to incorporate the physical location of a device into their IT Asset Management strategy. If any device goes outside a pre-set perimeter and stays outside that perimeter for a set period of time, customers would be notified, allowing for a fast response to any suspicious activities, including remotely deleting data and/or reporting the device as stolen.
“By adding geofencing, our customers know sooner when mobile devices may be out of their control, so they can quickly protect the security of those devices.” – John Livingston, CEO of Absolute
Learn more about this new capability here or watch a demo here.
Many of us think about protecting our data against the strangers of the world who might be trying to find a way to use our information to their benefit. It can be surprising, therefore, when the breach occurs within our company (or circle of friends, family, etc…). Unfortunately, DuPont is learning that insider theft is becoming more and more common.
The industrial manufacturing company discovered that one of their employees, a senior research chemist, transferred confidential files containing trade secrets from his company-issued laptop to an external hard drive.
Immediately, I couldn’t help but wonder why DuPont wouldn’t have some sort of alert in place in case someone tried to attach a hard drive to company computers. I was further baffled when I learned that this isn’t the first time they’ve been through this.
After 10 years with DuPont, an employee gathered information from thousands of documents and scientific abstracts. His mission? To sell the information to rival company, Victrex. He ended up being sentenced to 18 months of jail time.
Aside from setting up some sort of alert system for when data breaches occur and using laptop security products like Computrace, DuPont (and other companies) has to find a way to work around the fact that even people with legitimate access to their information need to be considered potential threats.
September marks the return to school for many people – either to high school or university. The reality of school these days is that many – if not most – students will now have laptops. And a student may find his or herself spending time studying in the library with that laptop. So, how can you keep it safe?
Presumably, you already have Computrace LoJack for Laptops installed. In the event that your laptop is stolen, we can help recover it. Of course, you want to prevent that theft to begin with, so let’s look at some tips for that.
Basic Library Laptop Security Tips
Permanently mark the exerior of your laptop with your contact information – this may deter thieves, since it makes resale more difficult
Choose a good laptop lock, and make sure you attach your laptop to a permanent fixture
Have a study buddy - that way, if either one of you needs to get up, the other can watch the laptops & bags.
Choose a non-obvious laptop bag – a backpack may not be as obvious to thieves that a laptop is inside. However, opportunistic thieves may take an unattended bag, regardless of its contents
Don’t leave your laptop unattended at your feet in a bag. If you should become distracted or fall asleep (hey, it happens!), it becomes too easy for someone to take the bag
Have other security measures in place, such as a laptop alarm and encryption
If using public wireless connections, be wary of what kind of information – and passwords – could be made available to others! This item is not so much about physical theft, but it can’t hurt to re-iterate its importance.
There is NO foolproof method of securing your laptop if you leave it unattended. The ONLY way to prevent theft is to take your laptop with you anytime you leave your work station – to get a book, to talk to someone or to use the washroom. It is a hassle, but it’s worth it!
These same tips would apply any time you’re out in a public place – be it around the school, in a cafe, or anywhere else. The only difference with the library is that a library may “feel” more safe – because of the secluded study areas. However, in reality, these private study areas make it much easier for someone to walk up and steal your laptop unnoticed if it’s left unattended.
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Laptop Security Blog 
As you can see, using LogMeIn or other free laptop tracking or remote access services is not the same thing as using a dedicated laptop tracking & recovery program and service such as 
We talk a lot about travel and laptop security here on the blog, but one thing we’ve never discussed is safe in-flight laptop practices. And by “safe” I refer to not just data security, but to keeping your laptop from being damaged in any way during flight. 
And a student may find his or herself spending time studying in the library with that laptop. So, how can you keep it safe?