I know many of you are travelling during the holidays, and many of you are taking laptops with you. Following are some tips for keeping your laptop secure while traveling.
- Keep your laptop with you at all times. Locking it in your trunk is not a good solution. Many laptops are stolen from car trunks where they are locked to keep them safe. A thief can pop a lock off of a trunk in a matter of seconds. Mall, hotel and airport parking lots are common places for vehicle theft.
- When not in use, keep your laptop out of site. While laptop bags are very convenient, you’re better off not using a bag identifiable as a laptop bag. A backpack or standard briefcase will attract less attention of thieves.
- If you’re using your laptop at the local coffee shop, lock it up while you’re there. Attach a Kensington lock to the laptop, wrapped around a table leg. It’ll prevent a snatch and run thief.
- Put your laptop away when it isn’t being used. Thieves tend to steal what is easily accessible and don’t spend a lot of time going through closets looking for items to steal. Not having the laptop out in obvious sight may save your laptop if you’re burglarized.
- Of course, all the protections in the world won’t protect your laptop 100%. Be sure to protect your data just in case of theft. Encrypt your files, disable guest log-ins, and require a log-in every time you start the computer.
Wherever you travel this holiday, keep it a safe one, for you and your laptop.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
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These are excellent tips, especially about securing access to your laptop data, this can help prevent identity theft, a lot worse than just having your laptop stolen.
Thanks, Tony. I’m going to be doing a more in depth article later about securing your electronic data. In this day and age, and with so many requirements about privacy, keeping your data secure is a very important topic.