Laptop Security

Track Your Laptop With an ID

The first step is to slap an ID tag on each laptop (as well as BlackBerry, digital camera, and USB key you own) and record it with a recovery service. Be sure to record the serial numbers of your equipment so that it is possible for authorities to reunite found items with their rightful owners. Tracking tags give you an opportunity to enter serial number information as you tag each item, after which you can use the recovery service as a basic inventory system. (You should definitely maintain serial-number records, as well as purchase receipts, in case of insurance claims.)

Recovery services report recovery rates of 75 percent and higher on tagged items. Evidently, most people who find laptops are honest, and by offering prepaid returns and a reward on the tag (which lists an 800 number), the service makes it easy to do the right thing.

The services have you register each item on the Web, with identifying information; then they contact you to arrange return if an item is found. The price is nominal, usually around $5-$10 per label, with quantity discounts. Vendors that offer labeling and recovery services include ArmorTag, BoomerangIt, StuffBak, TrackItBack, YouGetItBack.com, zReturn. Some of these companies sell lifetime service for a fixed price, while others use a yearly subscription model. Some charge a recovery fee if an item is found. TrackItBack sells multipacks, which bring costs down to $5 per label, with lifetime service and no administrative or shipping fees on recovered items. TrackItBack will even send you a free replacement tag if the original comes off.

The recovery firms unanimously cite privacy considerations and their 24-hour phone service as reasons to use their labels instead of just a taped-on business card or an inventory tag from your own company. The labels themselves may deter theft, as they render an item harder to fence.

Rely on Recovery Software

If a thief steals your laptop, tracking and recovery software can help you get it back. Absolute Software's ComputraceComplete ($50 per year), Brigadoon's PC PhoneHome ($30 lifetime), Inspice's Inspice Trace ($30/year), XTool's Laptop Tracker ($40 per year for Small Business Edition) and zTrace Technologies' zTrace Gold ($50 per year) are tracking utilities that connect periodically to a central server. When any of these does so, the associated service can trace your laptop's location on the Internet and summon the local police to recover it. Absolute Software claims that Computrace can survive on a laptop even if the thief successfully reinstalls the operating system, reformats the hard drive, or (in some laptop models) swaps out the hard drive. Some tracking products also have such features as the ability to wipe out key data if a laptop is stolen, or to take a photo of the thief if the machine has a built-in camera. The laptop's location may be pinpointed by IP address or by GPS, depending on the device and the service. Discounts vary among the services, depending on such variables as features, number of devices covered, and duration of contract, but the overall expense for most businesses pales in comparison to the cost of data loss.

Back Up and Encrypt Your Data

Regardless of the precautions you take, a laptop may still get lost or stolen. So it's vital to keep the loss to a minimum by ensuring that all important data is backed up and encrypted.

Encrypting data on laptops and on USB drives is relatively easy these days, thanks to numerous inexpensive security tools that provide military-grade encryption. But these programs are only as effective as their users allow them to be. For instance, instead of letting a laptop sleep during travel, you should shut it down completely, thereby locking the drive.

Set Up a Laptop Security System

If you're a seasoned traveler, you're used to working with your laptop in public places. But if you're not securing that laptop, you're asking for trouble. Apart from using a physical laptop lock (which you should already do), you can set up a software security system on your laptop with free software designed to deter thieves and to recover laptops.

For example, Laptop Alarm, when switched on, will set off a loud alarm if anyone unplugs your power cord, moves your mouse, or tries to shut down your computer. And since no security system is complete without a security camera, try Yawcam, a free app that turns your laptop's Webcam into a motion-sensing security camera capable of uploading photos of potential thieves to the FTP server of your choice.

Last but not least, the free LaptopLock utility focuses on retrieval and extra security for stolen laptops. With LaptopLock you can delete files, encrypt data, and log the IP address of your stolen laptop--all remotely.

Automatically Lock Your Computer When You Walk Away, and Unlock It When You Return

Free application BtProx monitors the proximity of your computer (laptop or desktop) to your cell phone or other Bluetooth device, and automatically locks the computer when the phone goes out of range. When you walk away from your laptop with your cell phone in your pocket, for example, the computer will automatically lock--protecting its contents from prying eyes while you're not there.

In addition, you can arrange for BtProx to launch any application at the same time that it issues the lock command--so you could automatically lock your PC and turn on your laptop security system when you walk away rom the machine.

Physical Security

Carry unobtrusive bags that don't scream "laptop inside." Messenger bags, knapsacks, and rolling overnighters with inner pockets all make good alternatives to dedicated laptop bags.

People who travel may want to use an alarm. The Belkin USB Laptop Security Alarm (~$55) function as cable locks but sound an alarm if someone cuts the cable. The Doberman Laptop Defender Portable USB Computer Alarm (~$30) incorporates a motion sensor that triggers a loud alarm if the device attached to it is moved.