Security measures for theft prevention/recovery?

[greatman05]

Hello. What are some ways you recommend protecting your laptop from theft (besides "common sense" knowledge of theft prevention)? I was going to get some tags, but I'm concerned that YouGetItBack's tags aren't as durable as ArmorTags, and I can't find any other companies that specialize in consumer asset ID tags.

 

[Tmagic650]

A good read:
Laptop Protection

 

[greatman05]

Thanks a bunch! I learned a lot about computer security and I plan on buying the STOP tags soon; those things are scary as hell D:

 

[DelJo63]

trite but obvious is to not lose or have it stolen, but - -

consider not only the physical loss, but the consequence of the data that is now in the hands of the thief.

Banking site user+passwords may be exposed (using Remember this site feature of the browser).

SSN and other financial data may also be exposed to assist in identity theft.

Some may quickly add, "but I use full disk encryption" (FDE) - - don't be silly.
Once the machine is in the hands of the thief, they can spend all the time they want
to crack your login+password( assuming you have one) and once achieved,
FDE is useless.

Critical or precious data needs a third party tool to protect this data from prying eyes.

Just my $0.02

 

[greatman05]

Good point as well.

I do try my hardest to keep up with my very valuable electronic goods, but I just wanted to add in an extra piece of mind.