Mark’em, back’em up, encrpyt’em… Do it or lose it

A quick tour of the latest reports about lost or stolen laptops seems to indicate it’s a bigger problem than most of us are aware of, this was at least news to me. Some estimates say there are over 10,000 laptops stolen or lost at U.S airports *per week*. Another report says over 97% of lost and stolen laptops are never recovered. These reports say things like “laptops being stolen like hot cakes” - I’ve never actually seen a hot cake sale, but if I did I think I’d say “Wow, these hot cakes are going like laptops”.

I’ve never lost a laptop or had one stolen, but it gives me a mild panic attack thinking about it. When I lived in San Francisco there was a week of panic for the coffee house laptop toters as news hit of a laptop robber who would do a “smash and grab” - dashing in to a cafe filled with laptops, assaulting someone doing work or checking Facebook and making off with their laptop.

As our computers get smaller and more pervasive — the frequency of theft may rise, if you think about it, it makes sense for somewhat tech-savy thieves to target laptop owners… everywhere you go small-ish items worth well over $1,000 a pop. Most of the time the laptops are sold on the street for their high value. The drives can be wiped, parts swapped out. It’s a modern day chop shop.

What can you do? It’s impractical for me to build a tasering anti-theft system for laptops, so I’ll likely stick to my current strategy…

My laptop “sleeve” is often made from a dirty t-shirt, or if you’re hardcore… old underwear. That’s right, no thief poking around in your bag when you’re not looking is going to want to wade through what seems to be a dirty laundry collection.

Laptop bondage… I once saw someone try and steal someone’s laptop at a bar, it was in their laptop bag and when the thief tried to make off with the bag it tugged the fellow having a beer. It ended quickly, words were exchanged, large men were involved. The fellow said that he always loops the laptop bag strap around his chair or leg wherever he goes, I’ve done that ever since.

Laser etching, depending on your location you can get your laptop laser etched. A lot of companies are doing this for their employees. I happen to have a laser cutter in my living room so I can actually say that companies figured out they can brand their laptops with their company logo and make them virtually un-resellable. When a laptop is “tattooed” the resale value goes down and employees are less likely to jet off with it too. Pictured above, a DELL I etched for a friend - she etched her battery too since those are often mistakenly “borrowed” where she works.

Encryption, back ups software tools - I usually encrypt anything important on my drive, do a back up before any trip and lately more and more computers have other features likes fingerprint readers and IP tracking (some good tips here). These solutions are for when it’s lost and pretty much game over, so I’ve always focused on keeping it in hand above everything else.

Have tips and suggestions? Or laptop theft stories? Post’em up in the comments.