Our laptops often contain a lot of sensitive data for work and personal use, and for most people, the thought of losing all that information is more than a little frightening

1. August 29, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
Tips For Protect Your Laptop In Case of
Theft – HOW TO
Tips For Protect Your Laptop In Case of Theft the word out that your laptop is missing. Even if
- HOW TO the police can’t find your missing MacBook, stolen
computer hardware is entered into a national data-
base, so if someone tries to sell your laptop, there’s
a good chance it will raise a red flag when they do,
even if they’re across the country.
If you live near a university, be sure and tell the
campus police about your missing laptop as well,
and don’t forget about alerting any private security
in the area where you were working when the lap-
top disappeared.
2. Inform Local Repair and Pawn
Shops
Tell any pawn or repair shops in your area about
your missing computer. Be sure and give them se-
Our laptops often contain a lot of sensitive data for rial numbers and describe any identifiable features,
work and personal use, and for most people, the such as scratches in the case or worn paint. Most
thought of losing all that information is more than reputable pawn or repair shops will check with the
a little frightening. The sudden, unexpected loss (or local police department before purchasing used lap-
worse, theft) of expensive equipment and delicate tops, but it never hurts to make them aware of your
documents doesn’t have to be a paralyzing expe- plight, either.
rience, however. Here are some quick tips outlining
steps you should take should your laptop become 3. Contact Your Insurance Agent
lost. We’ve also added a few handy precautionary
measures you can take beforehand, so your laptop Many insurance policies for homeowners and some
has a better chance of making it home safe if the renters will cover stolen computer hardware, even
two of you become separated. if the item wasn’t taken from your residence. If your
laptop was stolen out of your vehicle, its loss could
1. File a Police Report be covered by your automobile insurance. If your
laptop is company property, it is most definitely
joliprint
While it may seem obvious, many people don’t bo- going to be covered by your company’s insurance
ther to file police reports on lost property under the policy. Get in touch with your insurance agent and
assumption that there’s little law enforcement can inquire about filing a claim so that you can recover
do. While this may or may not be the case (depen- some of the cost of replacing your laptop. You’ll likely
Printed with
ding on your situation), contacting the police gets
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/tips-for-protect-your-laptop-in-case-of-theft-how-to/
Page 1

2. August 29, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
Tips For Protect Your Laptop In Case of Theft – HOW TO
need that police report to do this, but your insurance like eBay and Craigslist. If you were at a place of
agent can help you with the specifics. business when your laptop vanished, check in with
them every few days. Keep an eye peeled to the local
4. Continue Spreading the Word paper or community bulletin boards. Your laptop
may turn up, and if it does, you need to be aware
so you can claim it.
How To Prevent Theft and Protect
Data
By taking the steps above, you maximize the chances
that your laptop will be returned to you, whether it
was stolen or simply misplaced, but what about pre-
cautionary measures? Here are a few things you can
do beforehand to help make sure your laptop finds
its way home and that your data stays protected.
1. Install Prey
Get the word out to friends, colleagues and people Prey is a monitoring application that you can acti-
in the community by letting your Twitter followers vate remotely should your laptop become missing
and Facebook friends know your laptop is missing. or stolen. Prey then “calls home” to the Prey server
Post notices to community classifieds like Craigslist (or your own server, depending upon configuration)
and other local directories. You may even want to once the laptop connects to the Internet. A Prey
put up fliers in your local grocery store or take out report gives the IP address, geolocation (complete
an ad in the local newspaper. If you can afford to with map) and even a screenshot from your web-
do so, consider offering a reward for your laptop’s cam. You can also use Prey to lock your device to
return. Offering a reward that’s similar to the lap- prevent others from accessing it.
top’s actual value may not save you a lot of money
on replacing hardware, but it may help ensure that 2. Encrypt Sensitive Data
your data is returned safely.
Personal data such as credit card, financial and me-
5. Remain Vigilant dical records should always be encrypted — this is
doubly true if your computer is portable. Encryp-
Once you’ve filed all the paperwork, got the word ting your data will help to ensure that your identity
out to local businesses, tweeted about your lost lap- doesn’t get stolen along with your laptop and helps
top and placed an ad in the lost and found section protect you from any liability regarding the loss of
on Craigslist, it may be tempting to sit back and sensitive work files.
joliprint
let fate decide what happens next. Don’t give up,
though — remain proactive. Check those lost and There are a number of good encryption tools out
found ads yourself — but go beyond that, too. Many there, and many modern operating systems have en-
laptop thieves will attempt to sell the laptop online, cryption options baked in. One popular, free encryp-
Printed with
because it’s harder to trace, so keep an eye on sites tion tool for Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/tips-for-protect-your-laptop-in-case-of-theft-how-to/
Page 2

3. August 29, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
Tips For Protect Your Laptop In Case of Theft – HOW TO
is TrueCrypt. Cross-platform and free, TrueCrypt issues, having your backup hard drive stolen along
is an affordable way to protect your personal files. with your laptop doesn’t do you any good at all.
3. Make Your Laptop Easy to Return 5. Consider an Engraving
Consider placing a prominently named text file on If you’re serious about hanging onto your laptop,
your desktop (e.g. REWARD_IF_FOUND.TXT) contai- consider having your company or name and a piece
ning your contact information and any information of contact information such as your email address
about a reward, if you can afford to offer one. These or phone number engraved into a prominent loca-
details will make it easier for anyone who’s stumbled tion on your laptop. This greatly decreases its resale
across your missing computer to return it to you value and makes it obvious who the laptop belongs
without the need to go digging through personal to. Engraving is a reasonably good deterrent against
data. It may even cause a remorseful thief to have theft and provides just one more way of letting the
a change of heart — especially if you can provide finder of your laptop know who to return it to. Of
a way for the laptop to be returned anonymously. course the downside to this is that it makes the laptop
harder for you to sell as well, unless you replace the
4. Back Up Your Data Frequently engraved portion of the case.
Other Business News:
CloudTag: Protect , Laptop , Theft , Hp pavilion dv5
batteries , Dell xps m1330 batteries , dell inspiron
1300 batteries , Hp 6735s batteries
Battery Technology Related Articles:
Yu
o The Layperson’s Cloud Computing Guide to Distri-
should already be backing up your data on a regu- buted Networks
lar basis to protect against hardware or software
failure, but if you’re not, the possibility of a missing Apple without Steve Jobs : Who Are Winners and
laptop is just one more motivator to do so. If you’re losers?
on the go with your laptop a lot, you may want to
joliprint
take advantage of online backup services How Google User-Generated Content Is Changing
like Dropbox. If you choose to backup to an external SEO
hard drive, don’t store the drive in your laptop bag!
While this is fine for protecting you from technical Apple’s A6 Chip To Boost Speed And Battery Life
Printed with
in New iPad
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/tips-for-protect-your-laptop-in-case-of-theft-how-to/
Page 3

4. August 29, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
Tips For Protect Your Laptop In Case of Theft – HOW TO
HP Or No HP: The PC Lives | Technology News
WebOS on An iPad Ran Over Twice As Fast As the
TouchPad
10 Risky Default Settings In Social Media That You
Should Check
Battery Technology | Laptop Battery Life
100+ Online Resources That Are Transforming Edu-
cation by batteryfast.co.uk
To read more good posts, please follow us on Twit-
ter: http://twitter.com/batteryfastuk
Thank you!
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a com-
ment below and continue the conversation, or
subscribe to my feed and get articles like this
delivered automatically to your feed reader.
joliprint
Printed with
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/tips-for-protect-your-laptop-in-case-of-theft-how-to/
Page 4