Love your laptop? 4 ways to keep it safe
Keep your laptop safe from thieves
Here’s my own happened-to-a-friend-of-a-friend urban myth:
A man’s using his laptop on a train – sitting in the seats that face others across a table. As the train pulls into the station, the man turns to his briefcase to put his iPod away. Before he can realise what’s happening, the respectable-looking man seated across has snatched his laptop & sprinted off the train.
Far-fetched? Not if we believe TechWire’s story. (And I’d never underestimate the appeal of a perfect, shiny Macbook Pro).
When working in public
As a San Francisco cop asks in this article,
“Where else do you have a thousand-dollar item sitting on a table in a coffee shop?”
Ding ding ding!
Keep your laptop tethered with a steel cable lock*. I have a few. I keep one in my favourite suitcase, another in my let’s-go-to-Starbucks backpack and one in an oversized handbag. Whatever I leave the house with – I’ve always got a laptop lock with me.
When staying in a hotel
If it fits, lock your laptop in the safe whenever you leave your room. Otherwise, lock it to a piece of furniture with a cable lock. This can be tricky with hotel furniture – but the laptop attached to a heavy chair will look far less appealing than the one left on the desk next door.
At the airport X-ray machine
Another horrible hypothetical:
Thieves working as a pair stand in front of their victim in line. After Thief 1 goes through the metal detector, Thief 2 sets the machine off and holds up the line as he gets searched. Meanwhile, Victim’s laptop has already gone through the X-ray and Thief 1 helps himself. He presumably beats a hasty exit out of the terminal – the ‘Catch Me If You Can’ details are fuzzy.
Better safe than sorry? Hang on to your laptop until the last second – putting it on the conveyor only when the path is clear to walk straight through.
1 more laptop safety tip
Staysafeonline cleverly advises to pretend your laptop is a wad of cash (a very thick wad, in most cases). Treat it likewise.
*Laptops have a security slot into which a combination lock with steel cable fits. Loop it around something heavy (e.g. a table leg), insert into the slot & lock. It’s a theft deterrent only – they can be ripped from the laptop casing but ruin the thief’s chance of selling it.
