Laptop theft

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (February 2008)

Laptop theft is a significant threat to users of laptop computers. Many methods to protect the data and to prevent theft have been developed, including alarms, laptop locks, and visual deterrents such as stickers or labels. Victims can lose hardware, software, and essential data that has not been backed up. Thieves also may have access to sensitive data and personal information. Some systems authorise access based on credentials stored on the laptop including MAC addresses, web cookies, cryptographic keys and stored passwords.

With the onset of the information age, laptops have become an invaluable resource to individuals and companies everywhere. The nature of portable laptops allows users to be productive while allowing for mobility. However, laptop theft has been on the rise, and as a result many organizations have found themselves victims of potential data breaches that affect their employees, their customers, and their reputations. A stolen laptop often means loss of sensitive data stored on that machine, which is likely to lead to a risk of identity theft.

According to the FBI, losses due to laptop theft totaled more than $6.7 million dollars in 2005. The Computer Security Institute/FBI Computer Crime & Security Survey found the average theft of a laptop to cost a company $89,000.^{[citation needed]}

Depending on what is kept on a particular laptop, lack of proper security precautions allows a thief to easily acquire such information as personal bookkeeping files, documents containing passwords, addresses, as well as employee and customer information stored on company laptops.

A number of computer security measures have emerged that aim at protecting intellectual data. The Kensington Security Slot along with a locking cable provides physical security against thefts of opportunity. Passwords provide a basic security measure for files stored on a laptop, though combined with disk encryption software they can reliably protect data against unauthorized access. Remote Laptop Security (RLS) is available to confidently secure data even when the laptop is not in the owner's possession. With Remote Laptop Security, the owner of a laptop can deny access rights to the stolen laptop from any computer with Internet access.

Another possible approach to limiting the consequences of laptop theft is to issue Thin client devices to field employees instead of conventional laptops, so that all data will reside on the server and therefore may be less liable to loss or compromise. If a thin client is lost or stolen, it can easily and inexpensively be replaced. However, a thin client depends on network access to the server, which is not available aboard airliners or any other location without network access.

1 Some major laptop thefts
2 Laptop tracking software
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Some major laptop thefts

[edit] 2007

8.8.07 Stolen Laptop With 519 Citibank Student Loan Corporation Customers

8.6.07 - Verisign Stolen Laptop, Unknown Number of Current and Former Employees Affected

A laptop computer containing sensitive, personally identifiable information was stolen from a Verisign employee's car. The persons affected by this incident are current and past Verisign employees.

8.2.07 - Capital Health (Canada), Stolen Laptops, 20,000+ Affected

Four laptop computers were stolen from staff desks while secured to the desks with cable lock devices in a secure building. The thieves were able to enter the building, dislodge the cable locks and remove the computers during evening hours of May 8th.

[edit] 2006

An unencrypted hard drive containing names, addresses and Social Security numbers of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) members was lost when it was shipped back to the organization by a computer repair company. Potentially 330,000 members were affected.
A laptop that belonged to an Ernst & Young employee was stolen from a vehicle. The computer contained personal information of 243,000 Hotels.com customers.
Two Federal Trade Commission laptops were stolen out of a locked car when staff attorneys took them home to work on a lawsuit. As a result, names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 110 people were exposed to thieves.
American International Group, a major insurance company, became responsible for private data of 970,000 potential customers when their file server and several laptop computers were stolen from its Midwest offices.
An Equifax Inc., company laptop was stolen from a travelling employee. Information compromised included employee names and Social Security numbers.
13,000 District of Columbia employees and retirees were put in danger of identity theft when a laptop belonging ING U.S. Financial Services was stolen from an employee’s home.
A laptop containing debit card information and Social Security numbers of 65,000 persons was stolen from YMCA’s seemingly safe administrative offices.
Personal data of 26.5 million U.S. veterans was on a laptop taken from the home of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee.
Four laptop computers containing names, Social Security numbers, and addresses of 72,000 customers were stolen from the Medicaid insurance provider Buckeye Community Health Plan.
A Boeing employee’s laptop was grabbed at an airport, compromising 3,600 employees Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers.

[edit] 2005

Stolen UC Berkeley laptop exposed personal data of nearly 100,000^[1]

[edit] Laptop tracking software

See also: Remote Laptop Security

These products make a "call home" over the Internet in order to help recovery and some also lock the content of hard drive to prevent data loss.

GadgetTrak for Windows PC ^[2]
The CyberAngel w/ Wi-Trac by CyberAngel Security Solutions, Inc.^[3]
BackStopp by Virtuity, Ltd.^[4]
XTool Laptop Tracker by XTool Mobile Security, Inc.^[5]
LoJack for laptops^[6].
PC PhoneHome by Brigadoon Software, Inc.^[7]
nTracker by SyNet Electronics, Inc.^[8]
Inspice Trace by Inspice.^[9]
Verey Mac Theft Recovery Software ^[10]
DataDots allow tracking of the rightful owner in the event of theft or loss. ^[11].