Posts Tagged ‘laptop theft’

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.

Who Breached: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Number Affected: 1 Million+
Information breached: Social Security Numbers
How: laptop stolen from car

It’s been a while since I’ve done a major highlight of any recent data breaches. They keep happening, to be sure, but the details often start to look the same. However, this one caught my eye from it’s magnitude. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) is notifying more than 1 million residents of the state that their data has been breached as the result of a stolen, unencrypted, laptop.

According to their press release, a password-protected OKDHS laptop was stolen from an employee vehicle (a far too common theft location). The laptop contained names, Social Security Numbers, dates of birth and home addresses for clients who received Medicaid, Child Care assistance, and other program assistance. The laptop was stolen on April 3rd with a press release going out from OKDHS on April 23rd. Letters to affected clients started to go out in the same week.

OKDHS Director Howard H. Hendrick believes the “risk of the data being accessed is low because the computer uses a password protected system,” which is only a very minor security protocol. There’s no guarantee the password was strong and, even with strong password-protection, systems with no additional security precautions pose a high risk for being easily accessed. It is believed that the employee was not violating any policy in place, indicating that the current information security policy does not deal with taking data home or with proper data asset handling.

According to the Security Incident FAQ, OKDHS believes they have “numerous security measures” in place already to ensure client data is safeguarded, but plan to review all policy, procedures and training methods. Let’s hope this sheds some light through the entire organization about how much more can – and should – be done to protect sensitive information.

You can help prevent data breaches such as these, or recover from them more easily, with strong computer security policies, enforcement and training and software such as Computrace from Absolute, which offers many layers of security protection.

Via SC Magazine

The Ponemon Institute, along with Intel, have released the results of a new study about the Cost of a Lost Laptop. The study concluded that the average cost of a lost laptop was nearly $50k, in both tangible and intangible costs.

The study was prompted by an increasingly mobile workforce carrying around more sensitive data on their laptops than ever before. The study focuses on samples of organizations in the US that have experienced laptop loss or theft within the last 12-month period. The 138 cases involved loss by employees, temporary employees and contractors.

Key Highlights from the Study:

• The average value of a lost laptop is $49,246 (replacement cost, detection, forensics, data breach, lost intellectual property costs, lost productivity and legal, consulting and regulatory expenses)
  • The occurrence of a data breach represents 80% of the cost associated with a lost laptop
  • Of the remaining 20% of cost, 59% of that can be attributed to intellectual property loss
• The faster a company realizes of a loss, the lower the average cost associated.
  • If a loss is discovered in the same day, the average cost is $8,950
  • If a loss takes more than 1 week to discover, the average cost rises to $115,849
• Director laptop losses are most costly
  • The average cost of a lost laptop for a senior executive is $28,449, with the highest costs for manager ($60,781) and director ($61,040)
• Encryption saves money, with an average savings of $20,000 for lost laptops with encryption vs those without – but that’s less than half the savings than if you discovered that the laptop went missing the first day it happened
• The cost of a lost laptop varies by industry. The average full cost of a lost laptop is highest for services industry ($112,853) and lowest in manufacturing ($2,184)
•  The average data breach cost of a lost laptop varies by industry. The highest average data breach cost is in the services industry ($108,699) followed by financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical. The other industires were far less.

What the highlights demonstrate is the high cost associated with lost laptops, but also the possibilities for minimizing the damage if companies can identify when laptops are missing quickly. With software such as Computrace by Absolute Software, you can inventory all your mobile computers and devices, know when one is missing and when its stolen get the Absolute Recovery Team to help find it. You can also do a remote data wipe to ensure your lost data does not fall into the wrong hands. And Computrace with Intel Anti-Theft Technology can lock the computer so it can’t even be booted-up. It can easily help reduce the costs of a lost laptop.

Download the White Paper here [PDF]

Also check out Absolute Software’s recent study with the Ponemon Institute: The Human Factor in Laptop Encryption.

A LoJack for Laptops equipped laptop began to call in to the Absolute Monitoring Center just days after its owner reported that it had been stolen in a home burglary. The Absolute Recovery Team deployed a series of forensic tools to mine information on the laptop’s unauthorized user and whereabouts, and uncovered several pieces of evidence that indicated the laptop was being used to perpetrate credit card fraud. Absolute passed these details over to the County Sheriff’s Forgery and Fraud Unit for further investigation.

The County Sheriff’s office was quick to act on the information that Absolute provided, and within a week, was able to obtain a search warrant for the identified user’s address. The warrant was served, and after detaining the location’s occupants, a thorough search was conducted.

Police recovered the stolen laptop from the scene, along with narcotics, stolen auto parts, handguns, a special machine that reads and re-encodes credit cards’ magnetic strips, and hundreds of documents which contained names, addresses, and social security and credit card numbers. The user was arrested and charged on several counts of Credit Card Fraud, ID Take-Over, Receiving Stolen Property and Narcotics Possession. Detectives estimate the amount of known fraud on the compromised credit cards to be in excess of $100,000.

The laptop has been returned to a happy LoJack for Laptops customer.

Learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery process.

Please note that indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused, in all cases, are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

A LoJack for Laptops equipped laptop was recently stolen in a string of home burglaries committed during a busy religious holiday. With a number of homes left vacant while residents attended religious services, thieves capitalized off the opportunity to make away with a number of computers and electronics.

The day after the theft was reported, the Absolute Recovery Team was able to forensically mine the stolen laptop to determine its current user and exact location. This information was passed on to police, who used it to obtain a search warrant for the identified residence.

As police stood at the suspect’s door and served the warrant, the house’s occupants began to desperately throw bags of contraband from the windows in a feeble attempt to keep the illegal substances from authorities. These bags were quickly scooped up by police, who entered the home and were able to recover the stolen laptop – among other items. Four additional laptops were also seized, along with several pounds of marijuana, a large quantity of cocaine, and thousands of dollars in cash. Four arrests were made in connection to the case.

Just four days passed between the time that the customer reported the stolen laptop to Absolute, to the date that the laptop was physically recovered. The laptop has since been returned to its rightful owner.

Click here to learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery Process.

Please note that the above indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused, in all cases, are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

In an overnight burglary, thieves broke into a school and made away with multiple Computrace-equipped laptops.  Upon receiving the school’s theft report, the Absolute Recovery Team began tracking each stolen computer, locating one in a nearby neighborhood. After identifying the laptop’s user and pinpointing an address, Absolute handed the information over to police, who were able to arm themselves with a search warrant before visiting the suspect’s residence.

Police expected the search to uncover the laptop, and it did – along with a series of items that suggested an elaborate document forgery operation. Among other suspicious items, police discovered a printer/scanner complete with a birth certificate still in the feed, a paper cutter and laminator, a custom hole punch ideal for ID cards, and several blank Social Security Cards, each with an identical serial number. One individual was promptly arrested at the scene, while an arrest warrant obtained for the laptop’s user, who had managed to flee.

Absolute has since returned the laptop to the school and continues to work toward the recovery of the remaining missing machines.

Click here to learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery Process.

Please note that indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused, in all cases, are innocent until proven guilty.

A LoJack for Laptops costumer was recently the victim of a home burglary that left her without a laptop and several other electronics. She reported the burglary to local police and informed the Absolute Recovery Team of the laptop theft. Absolute began to track the laptop’s location, while the proactive customer let people know her laptop was stolen.

The customer worked diligently to get word out across her small town that the stolen laptop was equipped with LoJack for Laptops, and that this tracking software would swiftly locate the machine and identify its unauthorized user.  The local PD followed suit, publicizing the laptop’s use of LoJack for Laptops and its ability to track criminals and facilitate their persecution.

Although Absolute was quick to identify the laptop’s unauthorized user as a individual known to both the customer and police, “word on the street” caught up with the suspect before police were able to. Upon hearing that the stolen machine was equipped with LoJack for Laptops, the thief safely returned the laptop to the customer’s front steps.

Click here to learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery Process.

Please note that indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and that the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

When a LoJack for Laptops customer used an online auction site to sell her laptop, she assumed that the transaction was complete. The laptop was shipped to its new user and was said to arrive three days later. When it was soon discovered, however, that the buyer had used a false online payment account and that the supposed payment was never processed, the customer turned to LoJack for Laptops for help.

The Absolute Team worked with investigators to trace the original shipment of the owing laptop, only to determine that the shipment recipient had promptly resold it upon arrival. Luckily, the laptop began to call into the Absolute Monitoring Center soon after the resell, allowing the Absolute Team to determine its current user and location. This information was handed over police, who visited the provided address.

The current user was cooperative with authorities, returning the laptop and helping to identify the shipment recipient. Although the user faced no indictments, police have since charged the fraudulent buyer. The laptop has been returned to its original owner, who is reconsidering the prospects of a sell.

Click here to learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery Process.

Please note that the indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations, and the accused, in all cases, are innocent until proven guilty.

After a laptop equipped with LoJack for Laptops was stolen from a California university dorm room, its owner was confident that the Absolute Recovery Team would be able to track the thief and recover his computer. Indeed, within weeks, LoJack for Laptops had recovered the laptop and uncovered the thief – among other things.

Absolute recovery tools revealed the name and location of the laptop’s unauthorized user, providing police with the details necessary to launch a further investigation. This additional inquiry revealed that, beyond a computer thief, the user was also a known fugitive with an active warrant in the United States. An illegal immigrant with a criminal record, he was subject to deportation.

Using the address that the Absolute Recovery Team provided, police were quick to obtain a search warrant and visit the user’s residence. The user claimed to have purchased the laptop online, and as was later revealed, used it to help gain employment under false identities. The laptop was recovered, and the user arrested and charged.

The original owner has been reunited with his laptop, and the unauthorized user has since left the country. The detective who worked alongside Absolute for the duration of this case has recently begun work on a new LoJack for Laptops recovery file.

Click here to learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery Process.

Please note that the indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty

Absolute Software, as computer recovery specialist, can often spot trends in computer thefts from the number of reported threats to its Theft Recover Team. In a press release last week, Absolute notes that the number of computer thefts has increased during (or perhaps the result of) the recent economic downturn.

“We are seeing a rapid increase in the number of computer thefts reported to our Theft Recovery Team.” – John Livingston, Chairman and CEO of Absolute.

Although some of the growth in the figures can be attributed to more Absolute customers, the team believes some of this is due to the current economic situation. With theft on the rise, there is undoubtedly going to be an increase in identity theft and data breaches.

Of course, with more laptop losses being reported to Absolute, there are more great success stories to share about Absolute’s recovery efforts. As part of the press release, several mini case studies of recent stolen computers were featured.

Absolute Software helps protect thousands of computers for consumers and businesses alike. Computrace helps businesses track computers, manage software, and recover lost computers. It adds a much needed layer of data protection that should be considered in these risky times.

*For complete details on $1000 Service Guarantee, see http://www.absolute.com/Service_Agreement.pdf