PC Magazine recently had a piece on the growing epidemic of laptop theft.
Apparently, 12,000 laptops each week sprout legs NOT belonging to their owners — and venture off with strangers of ill-intent (Ponemon Institute and Dell Computer). This mostly happens in “high distraction places” like airport security checkpoints, departure gates and drinking establishments where business execs and road warriors are educating clients and prospects on the finer points of this phenomenon called, The Final Four.
In an RV, where you may be roaming with the bears or enjoying Grand Ol’ Opry while your mobile office on wheels lies unwatched (at least, by you, that is), how can you protect your stuff?
Once stolen, only three in 10 travelers ever recover their laptops (fewer land the prospect’s account). As for the confidential info or customer data lost from the absent PC or tongue loosened by spirits during said Final Four outing, it’ll show up — in your competitor’s next Exclusive Priduct, and your Corporate Termination Exit Review…
Laptop security is a crap-shoot. Best we can do is hope to thwart thieves. When I’m shacked up in a hotel — but venture out to a local haunt or watering hole, I leave my laptop in plain sight — locked tightly around a permanent fixture with a cable lock.
Beyond cable locks, other solutions include proximity alarms, software and duct tape to strap the laptop to your hands. Actually, PC offered a slideshow on 10 Laptop Security Products to keep your laptop and its data yours. Products include the PC Guardian Ezolution Multi Combo RS, Mobile Edge SecuriCable Key Lock, Targus Laptop Privacy Screens, Datamation Snap It Laptop Security Cable, Hush Communications StealthSurfer, M2SYS M2-S1 Fingerprint Reader, Yoggie Pico Personal, and LaptopLock. Continue reading “Keep Your Laptop Yours With Mobile Security Devices”
The best-laid roadtrips often get blown out. This story begins about a year ago when Barry and Jen had a tire blowout on the road to Hulaween. Once home, Barry replaced Bertha’s crappy “Chinabomb” tires with what we came to realize – yesterday on Florida’s Turnpike – were another set of crappy Chinabombs. A blowout left us stranded on the roadside – with one tire shredded and another punctured, and the brass fittings of the LP gas lines serving the fridge and stove sheared off.
