#1. Employer-owned laptops. Review your company’s policy over how data is managed on this device. This includes what information you can put on the computer and any minimal security requirements.
#2. Stickers and markings really do deter theft. Just like the decals on a house’s windows about its alarm system can repel burglars, some kind of visible marking on the laptop and its case will be effective in deterring theft.
The markings should indicate the security that protects the laptop. This will likely make thieves think twice and move on to unmarked devices, which practically beckon to thieves, “Come take me!”
#3. Get down all the information about the device. And this should be done before it is stolen or lost. Record on hardcopy the following information: serial number, model number, purchase date, description, market value and any other features that would be important for a police report and insurance claim. Then store this hardcopy record in a secure place.
Do not underestimate the importance of this one-time-only chore: If your laptop is stolen and finds its way into the trunk of the thief’s car, along with all sorts of other stolen goodies that look suspicious to the cop who pulled him over for speeding, the cop can’t do anything if the serial number of your laptop isn’t in the system as one that’s been stolen.
The thief gets his speeding ticket and is free to go—with your stolen computer.
#4. Install secret tracking software. So if someone steals your laptop, they won’t know that software is silently running in the background, secretly transmitting the laptop’s location to a tracking service. It can even communicate the computer’s street address. Some covert tracking software can also delete sensitive data on the device’s hard drive while it is still in the crook’s possession. #5. Install software that covertly destroys and recovers data. So if your laptop is stolen, you can remotely eradicate sensitive data as well as recover it if you never had it backed up (which you should have).
In fact, some companies have suffered an irreversible loss of data because they had to remotely destroy it—even though it had never been backed up. This is why remote recovery, not just destruction, is so important to have.
#6. Use additional offline digital security practices. Okay, so a thief absconds with your laptop. It will be useless to him if he can’t access the information that’s stored in it. For example, if it requires your thumbprint to access the data on it, the thief will not be able to get ahold of your private information. And yes, some laptop makers do offer this biometric feature. Another offline tool of protection is a security lock.
#7. Another is a hard drive encryption. However, the thing about a hard drive encryption is that it can hinder the laptop’s owner. And while this particular tool can be very effective at halting a thief, it does not have the capability to identify that the device has been located and taken over.
So you’ll be wondering if the thief was able to crack through the encryption. Though encryption technology today pretty much guarantees that a criminal won’t be able to crack it, it is still best to employ other offline protection methods such as biometrics.
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