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Laptop Security....

post #1 of 26
6/12/07 at 4:44pm
Thread Starter 
Recently, a member with the screen name of Dynamike had his laptop stolen. wanting to help others avoid the same fate, and trying to do a little bit of good, he posted some links to help people find the methods and tools to keep themselves, and their expensive technogoodies, safe.

http://www.absolute.com
This is a really great software solution. do i recommend it as a stand-alone answer to laptop theft? sadly, no. Absolute is the primary provider for the Computrace LoJack software. Its designed to let ET fone Home so to speak. When your laptop is stolen, you call computrace and they start tracking the laptop. using the ip address, they can give the info on who the service provider is and what ip the stolen laptop is using to connect to the internet. Computrace contacts local law enforcement who can then act to recover your stolen laptop.
it works by being installed not just in the hard drive, but permanently into the bios as well. if the thief reformats your drive, the bios agent rebuilds the files on the hard drive again.

http://www.pointsec.com
This website offers data security solutions for your laptop. Encryption means that bad guys who may be looking for sensitive financial, personal, or corporate data wont get it. instead, they get a bunch of unreadable files.

http://www.pgp.com
This website offers the very best in encryption software. we are talking about virtual drives, thumbdrive encryption, entire disk encryption, mail encryption, and instant messenger encryption, as well as self decrypting archives for sending sensitive data to people who do not have the program, but need the data, securely. i recommend this one, i am using it and have for years. PGP- they call it Pretty Good Privacy for a reason.

http://www.alertsec.com/
This website offers data security solutions for your laptop. Encryption means that bad guys who may be looking for sensitive financial, personal, or corporate data wont get it. instead, they get a bunch of unreadable files.

 http://www.lojackforlaptops.com/lear...or-laptops.asp
See Absolute.com above for explanation.

http://labmice.techtarget.com/articl...opsecurity.htm
Very well put together and thought out guide to security practices regarding your laptop. its a really great how to that goes into a lot of detail to give you some ideas, and point you in the direction of helpful tools to keep your laptop secure.

http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1186
This is another security how to, but is less comprehensive and more concise. Its got a few points the previous how to guide omits.

http://www.computersecurity.com/laptop/
A link to a company offering several security devices for a corporate environment.

http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/stay...psecurity.mspx
A short and sweet 9 point guide to increasing the physical security of your laptop while on the road.

http://www.networkworld.com/newslett.../00477464.html
A great article/ review of Motion detecting laptop security devices. They are a great supplement to cable locks and other devices. article gives links to the devices and discusses them in detail.

http://www.secure-it.com/
A site offering several various security devices. Among them, a privacy filter for your LCD screen to keep unwanted eyes off your work in a public place, and several locking devices.

http://www.securitydocs.com/library/3399
Another very comprehensive security guide, but this one is more focused on Data security and Network security. It also discusses physical security of laptops as well.

http://www.targus.com/us/accessories_security.asp
Great maker of laptop locking mechanisms such as cable locks, and motion sensing alarms.

http://us.kensington.com/html/1434.html
My personal favorite lockmaker. I use the kensington MicroSavor Retractible. i like it because its small and easy to carry in a small carry bag, its retractable, and uses a key instead of a combo. i have real problems remembering what day of the week it is, let alone a combination to a lock. Because of that i like the one i chose. they offer many different locks, and also offer models with motion sensing alarms too.

A special thanks to Dynamike for posting the links, and good luck with the hunt to retrieve your stolen laptop. Hopefully we can all learn something valuable from what happened to him, and take his advice. Laptop theft has become the most prevalent technology crime in the past few years, and replacement cost for those of us who buy our own is a huge hit to take for simply not taking appropriate measures to protect our investment.

For corporate users, it can be even worse. sensitive client data, financial data, valuable proprietary data, or even in some cases national security data, can be lost and in even worse cases, fall into the wrong hands. that is in addition to the cost of the loss of the equipment itself.

hope this helps someone out.

ev
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post #2 of 26
6/12/07 at 4:48pm
Sticky this bad boy
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post #3 of 26
6/12/07 at 8:34pm
That's some pretty useful information considering we've had several stolen laptop threads recently. Consider it stuck.
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post #4 of 26
6/22/07 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitcity22 View Post
Sticky this bad boy

love your Sig !
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post #5 of 26
6/29/07 at 6:41pm
Thread Starter 
OMG this story is so hilarious! someone who had their laptop stolen finally got a little JUSTICE!!! That, and its another 'really stupid criminal' story too!

Cali. Laptop Thief May Get Life in Prison

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

June 29, 2007, 5:05 PM

Here's a lesson for those of you trying to find love online: watch what kind of access you give them to your home. A state appeals court this week in California upheld a ruling against a man who broke into the apartment of a woman he met through an online dating service. Stolen was her laptop and accessories, which was then pawned off for about USD $250. However, the man made one fatal mistake: he changed the administrator username to his online dating access.
Now, here's where the story gets interesting. Ronnie Henning was already in trouble with the law, and had several felonies on his record, including previous thefts from the objects of his online trysts. In California, there is a law known as "three strikes," which gives repeat offenders stiff sentences for repeat violations. As a result, Henning could face 31 years to life in prison as a result of his crimes.



ev
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post #6 of 26
6/29/07 at 10:42pm
Noble Locks sells the locks I buy.
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post #7 of 26
7/8/07 at 1:53am
Keep in mind laptop locks are to keep honest people honest, nothing else. They can be easily defeated & provide minimal security.

The best advice I can give if you are concerned about your laptop being stolen, research & invest in a computer that integrates lojack for laptops into the BIOS. The hard drive based versions are nice, but can be removed by someone with knowledge in the matter.

If you are concerned about it being stolen I do not suggest you use a BIOS password. Use a Windows password at the most. A BIOS password will reduce the chance of the person being able to access the machine & get into Windows & initiating a internet connection, which is required to track the laptop
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post #8 of 26
7/8/07 at 12:36pm
These are all after-the-fact solutions: the laptop's already stolen. Personally I think an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. And the best thing I can think of is to simply keep an eye --and hand-- on the laptop all the times when taking it anywhere.
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post #9 of 26
7/8/07 at 1:49pm
Thread Starter 
OK, first of all, the lojack versions posted above ARE the bios versions, if you read the link.

Second, they are NOT after the fact solutions as locks do the same thing as keeping your hands ON the laptop in the first place!!!!! they provide a physical obstacle for someone to have to defeat to get away with your laptop. that takes time. time where you will probably discover whats going on and prevent the theft. THAT is what locks are for. and guess what? if you are standing there with your hand on your laptop and i want it bad enough, i will pullout a weapon of my own, Tasers or something like a folding baton, and take it. my lock is a lot safer than your hands, because without the key its not going anywhere for a long time.

READ THE POSTS!

ev
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post #10 of 26
7/8/07 at 1:54pm
Okay, read the last section of the OP. Yes it talks about locks. I still say it's NOT the same thing. You, the owner, represents active security, while a lock represents passive security.

Now show me some sort of Taser security system, then we're talking.
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post #11 of 26
7/8/07 at 2:09pm
err...You need to learn more about lojack. The aftermarket lojack (computrace)solutions are not BIOS based & can be removed either by erasing the HPA they are hidden on, or by getting a new HDD.

If you read their FAQ you will notice they say it cannot be removed through formatting or FDISK...etc, but never mentions, what if somone changes the HDD?

That is because the data is stored on the HDD, not in the BIOS in the 3rd party installs.

Computrace for the BIOS is available as a preinstalled option by some laptop manufactures including Dell.
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post #12 of 26
7/8/07 at 4:14pm
Thread Starter 
Yup, SOME laptops do not have that bios agent pre installed. newer laptops do. computrace has a list of laptops that have the bios agent pre installed. moreover, yes you are in charge of security for your laptop and not letting it get stolen is your responsibility but it is nice to have help and a recourse if it DOES happen. THAT is the point of this thread.

IF YOU DONT LIKE THE MEASURES TALKED ABOUT HERE, WORK OUT YOUR OWN SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS. this is merely to show people what kind of aids are out there to help them in their quest to stay safe.

and for the record not every single theif knows about lojack or is smart enough to get rid of even the third party one. there is no perfect security solution other than beating the living $#it outa the person trying to steal your rig as they make the attempt.

Short of that there are tools that can give you an added safety margin making it a lot more difficult to walk away with your rig if you get distracted for a moment.

Again, if you dont LIKE the methods outlined above, find your own solution.

ev
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post #13 of 26
7/8/07 at 4:19pm
Thread Starter 
Here's a link from computrace's own site, describing (just as above) how the software works. The hard drive gets reformatted or removed, and the bios agent thats part of the program and part of the install, rebuilds the files and program as soon as the hard drive is done reformatting or is replaced with a new hard drive.

http://www.absolute.com/products-core-technology.asp

Furthermore, here is a list of supported notebooks that come with the BIOS agent pre installed, from factory.

http://www.absolute.com/products-bio...-computers.asp

ev
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post #14 of 26
7/8/07 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by matteversmansix View Post
Here's a link from computrace's own site, describing (just as above) how the software works. The hard drive gets reformatted or removed, and the bios agent thats part of the program and part of the install, rebuilds the files and program as soon as the hard drive is done reformatting or is replaced with a new hard drive. ev
Perhaps you should actually read what it says..Only specific computers offer BIOS level support. those partners are listed: This is a list of the computer manufacturers, makes and models that provide Computrace embedded support in the BIOS. New lines of computers are added on a regular basis – if there is a particular computer make/model you are interested in, please be sure to ask an Absolute sales representative. For older computers or computers not listed below, a BIOS Flash may be available; a sales representative will be able to advise you on the models. http://www.absolute.com/products-bio...-computers.asp The BIOS agent is only supported in those machines. All other non-supported models have the hard drive level support installed. It can survive most attempts at removal as it resides in a HPA (hidden partitioned area) on the hard drive. If you know how to remove that HPA or replace the drive the agent will no longer protect your machine. you cannot just add code into any BIOS. It has to be supported or you risk corrupting the BIOS.
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post #15 of 26
7/8/07 at 8:09pm
Thread Starter 
oh i read it. i read it all. did you? i even posted a link showing which computers HAVE the agent. go back and re read my posts.

ev
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post #16 of 26
7/9/07 at 1:24am
Thread Starter 
i will post whatever i please since you pretty much read half the original article and then critiqued the other parts you selectively decided to read, thank you very much.

When you checked out the links, i think youd find that information you posted about lojack was already plainly viewable to anyone else who viewed the site posted in the original post too. your post about lojack was at best, redundant. your cracks about my thoroughness un necessary. the information you posted is helpful and would have been nice in a context other than trying to make someone look uninformed.

The entire gist of this post was to help people, not make other people look dumb with clever inserts.

ev
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post #17 of 26
7/9/07 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 
and as i stated earlier, if you dont like or agree with the above recommendations ORIGINALLY mentioned in the post, find your own security solutions. if you have a problem with the post, write your own.

If you dont like what i write in a thread post in a different thread. constructive criticism is welcome. Comments thrown in to attempt to make others look dumb are offensive.

I take offense at random potshots about posts that genuinely try to do some good and help people out. your post about the info about lojack was at best redundant, as the info you referrenced was clearly available at the site mentioned in the original posting. if you have something valid to say, say it, and do so in a non-condescending manor.

Personally, i dont care HOW many posts you have here. if you have something to offer, offer it in a constructive way, or expect other people you reply to what you say in kind.

I posted this how-to and FAQ in an attempt to help people see what was out there for added features that would help make them safer, not totally safe. i never said ANY of these products was foolproof and niether do they. use at your discretion and if you choose. If you have information that is helpful, by all means post it.

ev
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post #18 of 26
7/9/07 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 
And you can quote me on that.

ev
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post #19 of 26
7/9/07 at 11:33am
You really should relax. You stated all lojack solutions were integrated into the BIOS (and were quite apt at berating me on it). I replied indicating that was only true on select notebook models...

Apparently you looked at it & decided to edit some of your posts to reflect that & then turn around and start criticizing me , acting like that is what you posted all along....ok then



...Well at least the original post was informative.
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post #20 of 26
7/12/07 at 5:08pm
Computrace LoJack for laptops is great. I include it for all my customers.
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