Comments on: BI Monkey – Robbed :(

By: BI Monkey

BI Monkey — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:29:31 +0000

LoJack is only going to be of any use if the laptop is connected to a network after it has been stolen. A half way competent ID thief wouldn’t do that. Plus it’s no defence against someone just physically removing the drives and reading the data on them without ever turning the stolen machine on.

I’d argue that as a defence against ID Theft, LoJack is pretty useless. For recovering a stolen laptop it has its uses. Realistically i’d rather my data was protected – and solid Encryption is your only option here. Laptops can be insured.

If your data is backed up so you can recover from the loss of data, and it is encrypted so a 3rd party cannot use it, then the loss is trivial if the hardware is insured. You can just view it as an opportunity to upgrade.

By: Student Laptop Security

Student Laptop Security — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:37:53 +0000

Sorry to hear about the loss of your laptop. You’re right — PCs contain priceless data. You mention laptop tracking in your post. When it comes to tracking your laptop, it’s best to leave the forensics to the professionals. For instance, LoJack for Laptops is backed by Absolute Software’s Theft Recovery Team, who gathers evidence and will work with law enforcement until the point when the laptop is recovered. Free software solutions aren’t likely to provide this ability.

For more information about LoJack for Laptops protection, read the following article:
http://www.studentlaptopsecurity.com/post/The-Best-Way-to-Protect-Your-School-Laptop.aspx

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:50:44 +0000

Very sorry to hear BI Monkey, it is the worst feeling coming back to find doors ajar and things missing. My gut still sinks when I think of it and ours happened 5 years ago.

But you have made some valid points. Most of us will spend a portion of our time at clients preaching the need to have secure services, restricted access to data and limit the feed to external sources to protect private client information yet we leave our home open to attack with unsecure wireless points and no passwords on our PC’s.

Although I have password protected PC’s and ensure important data is backed up, I also have my external hard drive that contains all the backup data sitting in the middle of my desk and without any encryption. Its just photos, and documents, and projects, but in most cases they cannot be replaced! Well I know what I will be spending the next few days sorting out!!

By: BI Monkey

BI Monkey — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:58:12 +0000

I've read about BitLocker, but was under the impression there's some hardware support involved - either a chip or a usb key? My next machine will definitely have 7 on it, and will be much more secure. Like most people most security steps I take are retroactive... which is dumb. Edit: Here is one of the clearest articles i've read on BitLocker

By: Todd McDermid

Todd McDermid — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:04:25 +0000

It’s never something you expect to have happen – condolences… I’m sure it would be cathartic for the Monkey to go fling poo at the interlopers…

One of the first things I did when I put Windows 7 RC on my machine (and ever since) was use full-drive encryption with BitLocker. I know it’s not bulletproof – but it’s better than nothing, and completely transparent. I think that having that makes it more likely the miscreants would decide to wipe it rather than crack it. I also have a Windows Home Server, which is a very easy backup solution, allowing a full image restore, or file-by-file restores. And I’m a little paranoid every time I travel, backing up everything “important” to two USB sticks – one I leave at home, and one I carry with me.

Crime sucks!