Prevent Laptop Theft While Traveling
According to a study, business travelers lose about 12,000 laptops every week at the airport and according to the FBI 97% are never recovered.
When you consider that 65 percent of survey respondents indicated they were carrying confidential information this number is even more shocking. Most of the respondents also indicated that weren’t taking any specific measures to protect that information. That is a lot of unprotected information up for grabs when people get careless in the waiting area of an airport.
Remember the following prevention and mitigation tips before your next business trip.
Prevent laptop loss or theft by giving yourself plenty of time at the airport. Pack lightly so that you are not overwhelmed by vast amounts of luggage. Also, security checkpoints and gates are the most common places that people lose their computer. Be particularly careful in both of these areas.
Back up and encrypt all important files. If you do lose your computer this may help you minimize the risk that confidential company information will end up in the wrong hands. By backing up your information you can minimize downtime by quickly rebuilding your files. Both Windows XP & Vista lets you encrypt files and folders. To do this, right click your data, select properties, the general tab and then the advanced box, check “Encrypt contents to secure data box”.
You can clearly identify a stolen or lost laptop to police by using invisible, ultraviolet markings on your laptop. Another option is to store a copy of your laptop’s serial number somewhere other than your laptop.
While you can easily replace your hardware, your personal data may take months or years of work so regularly backup your information. Set up a BIOS Password for your laptop.
If you do discover that you have lost your laptop, a theft-recovery system like a LoJack for Laptops can help. The system can automatically call in to the Monitoring Center once a day. You can increase the number of calls to the Monitoring Center if your computer is stolen. Your computer can check in with the Monitoring Center and they can initiate a data delete to remove sensitive information before the thief is able to access it.
