Cubicle Security For Laptops, Electronics?

kamikasee writes "I recently found out that I'm going to be moved from an office to a cubicle. The cubicle area is not very secure, and I'm worried about things wandering off. My boss has offered to buy some equipment to help me secure things, but so far I haven't found anything that fits my requirements. Google and Amazon searches are overwhelmed by lockable key cabinets and larger pieces of furniture. Here are some of the requirements: The main issue with traditional solutions (e.g. locking things in a drawer) is convenience. I use a laptop with a second LCD monitor. There's also an external keyboard and mouse and a USB hard drive. I leave my laptop on at night so I can remote-desktop into it, so I'm not really happy about putting it in a drawer (no ventilation), plus I don't like the idea of having to 'unharness' everything every time I want to put it away. I don't trust cable locks. Besides, cable locks won't help me secure my the USB drive and other electronics that might wander off. The solution I imagine is a lockable, ventilated metal box that would sit under the monitor and house most of the electronics. If it was big enough, I could stick my laptop into it at night (while leaving it running) and feel confident that it would still be there in the morning. I'd be open to other types of solutions. Surely someone else must have dealt with this problem."

Comments

Never dealt with that sort of problem

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I've never personally dealt with that sort of problem. It's probably because I work with professionals.

YMMV.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[LinuxInDallas]

And that is what we though where I work as well. Here's the deal, how professional are the janitors? How about maintenance workers that are on-site tmie to time. Can you really trust them? We also had issue with someone that was able to sneak into the building over lunch one day and wander off with people's belongings. Forget the people you actually work with, they probably are completely trustworthy. it's everyone else that can gain access to your building that you should worry about.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[indiechild]

Exactly right. I don't know why everyone is assuming he's afraid of his fellow co-workers being thieves, that's unlikely to be the security threat. The real threat is from casual visitors or even con-artists/thieves who weasel their way into the building.

Also, regardless of who steals the stuff, you're unlikely to ever find out who did it. So prevention is best.

Some of my co-workers have personal webcams attached to their PCs that record 24x7. I trust my co-workers completely, but stuff has been stolen in the past, and I think it's because we have such a large number of strangers and visitors constantly coming and going.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[elronxenu]

That may be so, but there are different risks involved.

The first, that "nobody will steal anything because they're all professional" is a true statement until somebody breaches the trust that other employees obviously have. You could ignore the risk until something goes missing, but do you want to be the first one affected by theft? Think of it as a trade-off. You're trading off the benefit of leaving your wallet out in the open versus the risk of somebody taking it. If your wallet is taken you are likely to be mightily inconvenienced - not just the stolen cash, but you also have to cancel your credit cards. If your keys are taken you have to change your home locks. And so on. IMHO, the balance of the cost-benefit equation for a wallet falls firmly on the side of "the benefit is small but the inconvenience of a problem is large".

The second risk is that objects or data may be accessed and returned, and you'd never know it. Does that USB thumb drive contain sensitive information, information which all employees are not entitled to access? You wouldn't know if somebody took the drive, copied its contents and returned it. Or if they copied your credit card number (or even scanned your card's mag stripe). If you lose a wallet you can take positive steps to mitigate the inconvenience - steps which you cannot take if you don't know there's been a breach of trust.

I think the OP's best strategy is to minimise the amount of personal kit which needs to be used in the office and left overnight. If the company owns the laptop and monitors then retention of the physical device becomes the company's responsibility. I don't see why the USB thumb drive needs to be used overnight - don't computers have their own storage? :-)

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[sdgoat]

I've worked for a couple of fairly large companies where laptops have been stolen. Always seems to be the mail guy coming in after hours. One guy got around 15 one night. However those laptops with cable locks were never lifted, it was always those that were just sitting there asking to be stolen. So while the 'professionals' you worked with might not be stealing the equipment, you can't always trust some of the lower paid hired help.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[vonFinkelstien]

Here is Sweden it is very common for drug addicts or organized crime gangs to break into schools and businesses at night to steal computers. LCD monitors and laptops are prime targets. The private school I teach at has had the teachers' room broken into 4 times in the past 2 years. Now, I put my monitor on the floor every night so thieves can't just look in the window and see easy pickings.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[bogess]

I dunno, but if my boss was willing to pop for something to secure my stuff and I was paranoid about it disappearing, I would opt for a soloution from an older, gentler period of time. Have him pop for a Roll top desk, for instance. Following the nature of your request, one with a lock (most had them). Then you would have everything you described with the added benefit of a classy looking piece of furniture.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Likely as not, the janitors also have keys or access to his current office, and would already have made off with stuff if they wanted.

I will say, though, that cables do nothing for laptops. I work at a college, and we had laptops and desktops stolen from a room, even with Kensington cables attached. The thief (or thieves) just jerked hard, and the thin metal casing around the "Kensington" port bent and they walked off with all the equipment they wanted. The older-style adhesive pad connectors were just as bad.

But, a Kensington cable will help keep honest people honest. And loss of any of the described equipment is the company's issue, not the author's. (Unless it's the author's personally-purchased equipment.)

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[smurfsurf]

It is not about getting in unnoticed. Delivery, maintenance, janitors, cleaning people, refilling the candy and sode machines etc. These are the people he is talking about. And the thiefs inpersonating them.

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[cc1984_]

how professional are the janitors? How about maintenance workers that are on-site tmie to time. Maybe I'm alone here, but where I work, the maintenance workers and cleaners kinda have the keys to all the rooms anyway to do their jobs (like emptying the bins etc.)

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[Sandbags]

Wether we're talking about employee theft or the night janitor, there's a simple, and relatively inexpensive option, and it's called video survaillence.

Place a few cameras around (even a few fake ones!), connect them to a video hub/DVR. To make employees happy and help them feel reassured that no one is contstantly watching the footage to see who is and who is not working efficiently or whatever, you place the kit inside a closet and place 2 or 3 differnt locks on it and give 1 of those keys to the HR rep or IT guy, one to an upper level VP, and one to a representative of an employee formed comittee. Now for someone to see who swiped a stolen item, these 3 people neet to come together to unlock the door... now no one is poking around the survailence system.... Another good option is giving the key to the closet to IT, but the password to the DVR to an employee relations comittee member. Since the DVRs are member or workgroup devices, not domain systems, IT won't be able to change the password and management can't log on to the system at all (since it's for theft protection, the only occasion they should have to log on is when a theft happens, and employee relations should be involved.

If that's still not good enough for your employees, only put cameras in hallways and near enterances, so they're not under full time survaillence, but if someone swipes something, we should have a good idea of who was in the neighborhood at the time it went missing.

Anything large being stolen will be obvious (monitors, printers, etc). That stuff doesn't belong to you anyway, it belongs to the company, and if you're backing up your data, what do you care?

If you ARE using your own equipment in the office building for work purposes, get HR or your finance department to assure you it's covered under a company insurance policy and then if it walks off, it's still their problem, and you get free replacement kit. For everything else, check with your homeowners or renters insurance policy. You can usually get a rider for a couple bucks a month that covers personal device loss and damage without a deductable. (you do have to file a police report to get a claim, but lets face it, sometimes people see police at your cubicle, and devices mysteriously re-appear...)

I've also been in buildings where security asset tags every item coming in the building (even things like picture frames!). Going in or out of the building becomes a slight pain since you need to go through metal detectors, and security checks, but for some businesses, especially those dealing with large numbers of traveling employees or lots of short term contract labor, it's worth it.

On another note, if you don't trust your fellow employees, seek employment elsewhere or don't bring shiny things to the office...

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[ArsenneLupin]

We also had issue with someone that was able to sneak into the building over lunch one day and wander off with people's belongings. I've heard a much worse story. At my boyfriend's place, somebody managed to sneak into the building and rape one of the employees.... They did catch the perp, but boy what a scary thought that something like this can happen...

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[penguin_dance]

Usually I find the LAST people to suspect are the cleaning folks. They know they're going to be the first ones scrutinized if something comes missing! However, often the security guards are contracted out and the company they work for doesn't always screen them. I've seen a lot of cases where these guards have criminal backgrounds.

The only problem I had with thieves was a company I contracted for (wine and alcohol distrib). I left a 6-pack of Diet coke in the fridge the first day and it was gone the next. My manager apologized, saying she forgot to tell me not to leave anything in there because the night shift raided the refrigerator. Had I been working their longer than a few days, it would have been time to break out the old brownie with the chocolate ex-lax recipe. What really got me was no one in management seemed to care that if their night shift would steal from other employees, how much hooch and other things were walking out of there?

Ironically, their slogan at that time was "McK_____ People Care!"

Re:Never dealt with that sort of problem

[fataugie]

Yeah, well not to rain on your parade, but in a past life (15 yrs ago) I worked in a bank. We had someone stealing stuff from the marketing dept. (they had all the good electronics). So security set up survellance cameras and a VCR to tape the criminal.

Say it with me.....what do you think was missing the next day? That's right, not only the electronic bait, but the cameras and the VCR.

Don't Have stealable stuff

[temojen]

Why do you have a laptop if you don't take it with you? What do other people in the cube farm do? Why do you have your own equipment at work?

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[nickj6282]

I was kind of wondering this myself. If your boss is moving you from a locked office to an open cube then it sounds like his problem if his employees steal his equipment from your desk.

If you are bringing personal items (USB drive, iPod, cellphone, etc.) to work with you there are a few options:

1. Leave this stuff at home
2. Don't let it out of your sight and take it with you when you leave for lunch (this is what I do with my iPod/cellphone/etc. when working, although I can leave it out on my desk in plain sight and it will still be there later because my coworkers are not douchebags)
3. Keep these items in a plain unassuming backpack under your desk
4. Lock these items in a desk drawer when you are in the office and don't leave them at work

Also, why do you have a laptop if you're just going to leave it in the office when you go home? I've worked at places where that was grounds for dismissal. Don't they have a VPN where you work?

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[pavon]

My main machine is a laptop, and I have never once brought it home - if I need to work I'll be at the office, billing time. The reason I have a laptop is because I am on several projects, and spend time in 5 labs spread across two buildings, depending on what equipment I need and who I am working with. I also get sent on business trips once or twice a year, and I'll bring my laptop with me then. Even if you only work out of the office once a month, the hassle saved by not having to keep files in sync between multiple computers/flashdrives makes a laptop much more convenient than a desktop.

That said, if he was planning on working at home, I don't see why he wouldn't just take the laptop home rather than leaving it on. Unless he wasn't planning on working at home, but just leaves the computer on in case he gets the odd "emergency" call. That I could definitely understand. I wouldn't want to drag my laptop home everyday if I wasn't planning on using it - it just becomes a liability then.

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[pavon]

I've never had all that great of an experience with remote desktop outside of a LAN environment. Given the choice of using remote desktop or working directly on the laptop, I would happily lug the laptop home. Oh, and I was also assuming that working on company documents or connecting to the company VPN (not counting remote desktop) using personal machines was verboten. I suppose that might not be true everywhere.

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[Fred_A]

Why do you have a laptop if you don't take it with you? Quite. Easy solution : don't use a laptop, find a DEC PDP 10 on eBay. Nobody will steal that. And if somebody somehow does, you'll notice immediately when it's disconnected by the way the whole city block's lights suddenly brighten.

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[The Fanta Menace]

If your boss is moving you from a locked office to an open cube then it sounds like his problem...

If my boss was moving me from an office into a cubicle, I'd be looking for another job. That's just insulting.

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[Dekortage]

If my boss was moving me from an office into a cubicle, I'd be looking for another job. That's just insulting.

It depends. Awhile back, a company I worked for moved locations, and everyone was given a cubicle except senior VPs and the president. It was called an "open office environment". I suppose it was still insulting, but it was not personal...

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

Posting anon in case the coworker reads this...

At my office we've just moved into a cube farm. Some of us came from cubes, so it's not a big deal. One coworker had her own office; she's been fun to watch.

She's been bitching up a storm about how her cube, the door of which is visible from the pathway between cubes so people walking by can see what she's doing, isn't appropriate.

So far, she tried the following "remedies":

• Screaming at our manager that she doesn't have the room she needs to work
• Moving empty file cabinets to block the entrance to her cube
• Hanging a blanket across the entrance to her cube with a handmade "keep out" sign attached
• extending her lunch break from her traditional two hours to three, saying it takes her longer to get to the gym now

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[EriDay]

At Steelcase largest maker of those cubicle systems, even the CEO is in a cubicle.

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[captaindomon]

I worked for a big company for a while (Fortune 100, 60,000+ employees). They found out one of the guys I worked with didn't have a pay grade high enough for him to have an office. So they moved him into a cubicle and turned his office into a storage room. Now THAT's insulting.

Re:Don't Have stealable stuff

[captaindomon]

Yeah, but I bet that's one DAMN FINE CUBICLE.

Simple solution

[Brandybuck]

Simple solution: Don't bring your personal computer or electronic devices to work. If your company's security is such that company property disappears, then that is the company's problem. In real life, this is not a big problem. With the exception of lunches in the refrigerator, coworkers are not going to steal your stuff in a healthy work culture. But to be save, don't leave your personal devices laying around. If it is your own personal computer, however, then get the company to provide you with a company computer.

Re:Simple solution

[Swampash]

Simple solution: Don't bring your personal computer or electronic devices to work. If your company's security is such that company property disappears, then that is the company's problem.

Quoted for great justice.

Company gear, company premises, company's obligation to secure it. if I came in to work tomorrow morning and my desktop computer and monitor were gone, I'd inform our IT manager and tell him to call me when they have been found or replaced.

Seriously, if you're not working for yourself, why on earth would you take your OWN laptop into a place of business? That's retarded.

Re:Simple solution

[Eadwacer]

I understand some companies already make boxes with motherboards and hard drives in them and everything, and they sit on your desk like a big tower, and they're not portable so hardly anyone ever steals them. You could see if your notebook maker has a section that sells specialty items like that...

Re:Simple solution

[BadAnalogyGuy]

It sounds expensive. A special box just for computer parts?

Re:Simple solution

[JonathanR]

Almost like a garage for your car.

Re:Simple solution

[Minwee]

"Garage"? Hey, fellas, it's the "ga-rage".

Well, ooh la-dee-da, Mr. Frenchman. Around here, we call it a car hole.

A box could easily be stolen

[_merlin]

If you lock the stuff in a box, people could just steal the box and cut it open at their leisure. I think your real problem is that you don't trust your workmates. If your workmates are, in fact, untrustworthy you probably need a new job. Another strong possibility is that you're unduly suspicious of the people around you.

Re:A box could easily be stolen

[Kamokazi]

Exactly...most security is a theft DETERRENT, not a theft stopper. They are there to keep honest people honest, not stop determined thieves. There are ways around every security system, and most of them are pretty easy if you know what you are doing, especially anything affordable for an individual.

If you're really that paranoid, just use the stinking cable lock, and hide the hard drive somewhere (it shouldn't need much ventilation). If someone really wants to steal your stuff, they're going to steal it unless you bolt a safe to the floor. But I would follow the advice of the other people here by either getting a new job, easing up on the paranoia, or quit throwing a hissy because you lost your office/got demoted.

Re:A box could easily be stolen

[dfm3]

I think your real problem is that you don't trust your workmates. If your workmates are, in fact, untrustworthy you probably need a new job.

The submitter doesn't explicitly say that it's his fellow employees that he's worried about. There are plenty of workplace settings that are easily accessible to anyone who just wanders in off of the street.

For example, I work for a university. Typically, graduate students don't have their own offices, but get a cubicle in a large room shared by a dozen or more fellow students. Hundreds of people attend classes in our building every day, and it's not uncommon for computers, textbooks, backpacks, projectors, or anything that is not locked up or chained down to disappear.

In that case, the best solution is to just take anything of value home with you, or lock it up when you leave.

Re:A box could easily be stolen

[Bombula]

it's not uncommon for computers, textbooks, backpacks, projectors, or anything that is not locked up or chained down to disappear.

This is where you want eyes in the sky. Seriously, I WANT cameras in the ceiling to discourage theft. It's ludicrous to have to be afraid that some asswipe is going to steal anything "that is not locked up or chained down." Get cameras, and then people just won't be able to get away with it. Then if some moronic grad student is stupid enough to throw away tens of thousands of dollars spent on their degree - and possibly tank their career as well - in exchange for $20 selling used textbooks back to the bookstore, then that's just good entertainment material for fark.com and youtube.

2 words

[Plazmid]

2 words: Mini fridge. Provides ample cooling and looks like something you would have in a typical office. People don't tend to look in a mini fridge for a laptop or data. As long as no one knows that you keep your stuff in it your safe. Maybe put a couple of drinks in there, to hide your laptop or even a secret compartment.

Re:2 words

[rootofevil]

security through obscurity? havent we been over this?

Re:2 words

[Hao Wu]

What do you hide the fridge in?

Re:2 words

[Kinky Bass Junk]

I would have thought a mini-fridge would have attracted more theft...

Re:2 words

[pete-classic]

Isn't it obvious? A normal-sized 'fridge.

-Peter

Re:2 words

[MrShaggy]

Does your fridge run Linux??

Re:2 words

[Plazmid]

It will soon...

Re:2 words

[DrEldarion]

... because if there's one place at work that you can always be sure nothing will get stolen from, it's the fridge.

webcam

[Riquez]

Get a webcam that records & uploads what's happening inside your cubicle.
Then you can catch the thieves & get your stuff back.

Re:webcam

[CyberKnet]

Aha! I see the thieves were here... and the webcam is still in place!

Stupid thieves.

Now I'll just boot up my trusty laptop to view the video...

@!$!%!!!

Easy!

[rindeee]

I recommend Nessman-esque masking tape walls and door. Simply enforce pretend knocking and 'lock' it at night. Problem solved.

Re:Easy!

[gooman]

A co-worker and I built a "Les Nessman office wall and door" to our work area which was a big open room.
We got a lot laughs and comments from visitors. Most would knock on our pretend door.

Our Korean boss did not understand the humor at all.
Since he refused to use our indicated door, one day we bought a pre-hung door and set it up.
Mind you there were no walls, just this door-frame and door to our office in the middle of the big room.

He didn't say a word, but the following Monday the door and the tape on the floor was gone.
There was also a memo about no more personal items of any kind to be brought into work.

Spoil sport

Re:Easy!

[myth_of_sisyphus]

When I worked at Apple, there was a guy who built an igloo with styrofoam over his cubicle. Didn't have a door but it was a nice cubicle-igloo. One night I went to check it out, seeing as how it was 1 am and there was nobody in the building. His office was lined with monitors displaying a trippy acid pattern that had me mesmerized for about 15 minutes. Just the quiet of the office building and the dim lights with the monitors going all loopy and the igloo above created a very serene environment.

Then I heard "Can I help you?" And I jumped. I turned around and there was a bearded guy in a sleeping bag. I said ".....uhhhhhh......sorry" and leaped out of there.

I never did find out who it was or why he did that. I wasn't really supposed to be in that area of the building at that time so asking around was a no-go.

If anybody knows, I'd like to hear it. This was about 1990 in DeAnza 3 or 4.

Re:Easy!

[dipstick]

No personal items of any kind is clearly carte blanche for you to go into work the next day entirely naked.

No kidding!

[raehl]

I have not locked the door to my office in years. People leave their child's fund raising goodies out on tables and you just put the money you're supposed to in the envelope if you take something.

Where do you work that people are stealing stuff all the time?

Or are you just mega-paranoid?

Re:No kidding!

[nacturation]

No kidding indeed. I often leave my wallet on my desk all day (open environment, no cubes) and I'm not even concerned that someone might look at it funny. My guess is that the submitter works in a high school or a prison.

Re:No kidding!

[sleigher]

Well I have worked in offices for years. One time after an office move we came back and a co-workers purse was gone. The whole thing. We were on the 8th floor. Seems someone came in off the street, up the back stairs and got in. Not sure how because the door was locked. Point being that it isn't always co workers who are dishonest. The company got better security on the floor after that.....

Re:No kidding!

[Anonymous Coward]

My guess is that the submitter works in a high school or a prison.
... or Australia, which is a mixture of both ;)

Re:No kidding!

[lgw]

Probably not a coworker. There's an entire class of criminals who dresses nicely, get past the badge readers on doors just by asking nicely to be let in (works quite consistantly), and just wanders around stealing something valuable. Also, the cleaning staff sometimes decides it's time for some bonus pay.

I worked in one office where *dozens* of laptops were stolen over a period of *weeks* until the security company convinced the cleaning company to fire the guy with the felony theft record. The theft mysteriously stopped at that point.

Thinking "my coworkers are professional, so I need not fear theft" is naive at best.

Re:No kidding!

[fractoid]

This is a good point. Social engineering is so powerful, especially given that most people in large corporations go around in a daze. I worked with a temp. sysadmin for a month or so a while back and I was amazed what information he was able to get (passwords especially, information on ordering, etc) simply by phoning up and asking for it. On the hardware side, cleaners are even more amazing - a company that requires security clearances and background checks will quite happily let some anonymous guy on minimum wage wander around their entire office, eyeballing trade secrets and potentially swiping millions of dollars of hardware if he knows what he's looking for.

Re:No kidding!

[Aaron Denney]

Secondly they are in a police station which often houses not only police but also known and suspected criminals.

These are occasionally the same people.

Re:No kidding!

[__aagbwg300]

I work at a very large medical school in the Bronx with real professionals and trust everyone who gets a badge. Thus it was strange when a rash of laptop thefts hit the complex that I work in. Each disappearance happened in broad daylight, oftentimes when a researcher had just stepped out to smoke a cigarette, go to the bathroom etc.

You would be amazed at how quickly a person's progressive attitude is changed when their laptop is stolen. The European researchers blamed the Chinese, the Chinese blamed the South Americans and the Americans (myself included) .... blamed other Americans. In either case, morale in the entire place was shot. People were seen bringing their laptops into the bathroom (for non-masturbatory purposes!). No one trusted anyone else.

After almost a hundred thefts security stopped a guy in a Fed-Ex uniform with a bag full of laptops. He got past the checkpoint by claiming that his packages had to be signed in person by the noted party (warning bells? We have a loading dock and people to do that.). When the cops came, he confessed only to stealing the laptops in his bag and claimed that it was his first time. The laptop thefts stopped for a few weeks.... and then started back up!

In the end it turned out to be one of the security guards. No one would have caught him if he hadn't been storing hot laptops IN HIS LOCKER. So the moral of the story is that if someone wants to steal your unattended laptop, they will.

Re:No kidding!

[alta]

It's funny you should mention this, I saw this on oddly enough last week.

Lawyer: So you saw the defendant commit the crime?
Officer: No, another officer did.
Lawyer: And do you always trust everything other officers say?
Officer: I trust trust them with my life!
Lawyer:So officer, if you trust them with your life, tell me why you have locks on your lockers.
Officer: You see, our precinct just happens to be in the city courtouse. There are also lawyers in that building.

Re:No kidding!

[__aagbwg300]

Our guy was popping cable locks with a screw driver. Of course, in the Bronx we have best thieves money can buy. :) Your first comment is spot on though.

Re:No kidding!

[nospam007]

There are laptop clamps available, much better than mere cable locks.
It's secure and still usable.

http://www.loxit.com/claptop.htm?gclid=CNbJ8-KxqJICFQxOMAodM21gLw

Re:No kidding!

[TheMidnight]

Look, son, there's a rare breed of Internet posting: the "cops are criminals" breed. What? They're extremely common in this part of the wild? Well, I guess you learn something new everyday, son.

Re:No kidding!

[cayenne8]

"I started out saying "cleaning crew," but that's maybe a bit presumptuous, and could easily be viewed as prejudice. Of course, most of the regular employees make enough (we're engineers) that stealing a laptop and risking a career doing so makes very little sense. I'm not sure how closely the Rent-a-Cops are scrutinized. One hopes they are. Laying default blame in any direction without evidence is could easily be mistaken for racism, sadly. Cleaning crew and cafeteria staff? Almost exclusively Hispanic. The Rent-a-Cops? Almost exclusively African American. The engineering staff? It's the most diverse, but mostly Caucasian, East Indian, Asian."

[rant]

You know...I'm getting very tired of everyone having to walk on egg shells to avoid the 'racism' card being thrown at them.

At no time, did I, nor many other threads here that said it was often the cleaning service...mention race. Only categories of jobs were mentioned...Rent-a-cops, janitors, etc. Now...if one ethnic group tends to predominate in one of these jobs where you work, and they happen to be stealing stuff, it doesn't make it any less true that it was the cleaning crew.

God...lets face it. Sometimes, black people sell crack. Sometimes hispanic people steal things, some asian drivers are poor drivers, sometimes white people are white trash. These are truths...they happen. Not everyone of a race does these things, but, some do, and I'm getting sick and tired of when someone points out that someone of a certain race has done something wrong, that they are either labeled racist or afraid they'll be thought of as one. Sometimes actions of a person *DO* play into a stereotype...it happens, and if you see it and say it, it does not make you a racist. That is only if you make blanket statements that ALL [insert race here]'s steal things while at work, are you making a racist statement.

Geez, lets all grow some thicker skin, and not be so quick to throw the racist card, and lets not be so scared of having it played, that we're scared to say something that might in some cases, happen to be true.

[/rant]

Re:No kidding!

[Mr Z]

I just think it's somewhat shocking that over 90% of our cleaning and cafeteria crews are Hispanic, and over 90% of our security guards are African American. That in and of itself seems like some sort of unnatural self-selection.

Re:No kidding!

[Glonoinha]

No joke. That Colin Powell fellow, his poor son (Michael Powell, was Chairman of the FCC) and especially that poor Obama guy - not only black, but with a Muslim name - what chance do those guys have in life. Michael Jordan and Shaq. Tiger Woods. Oprah - not only black, but a woman too! There is no way black people can succeed in this world, with all the cards stacked against him.

WTF am I talking about? Maybe any person, no matter their origin, color, race, sex, or religion can succeed in this world simply by setting high goals, living in a world of self discipline and motivation, education and the pursuit of excellence. Given what everybody is saying about Generation Y, a kid growing up today just has to set their bar a little bit higher and BAM! they are head and shoulders above their peers, and then they grow more and more successful.

Black teens - want to be an overwhelming success in life, long term? Here's your recipe :
1. Stay in school. Do your homework. Study. Four hours every night. Even Saturday and Sunday. Four full hours. Graduate with good grades, maybe with honors.
2. Join the military right out of high school, do a four year stint. Get the GI Bill. Get discipline, respect, motivation.
3. Take that money, discipline, motivation and self respect down to a state university. Get a degree in something you can use to get a job in once you graduate.
4. Graduate college at age 26. With honors.
5. Get a real job right out of college. Spend less than you make. Invest 10% in long term growth (ie. 401(k), etc.) Do not buy bling or rims for your car.
6. Don't get pregnant / get any strange women pregnant in the process. Unless you marry her, and plan on staying married to her for 20+ years.
7. Don't break any laws. Not even the drug laws. Stay relatively sober, except when the occasion warrants otherwise.
8. Learn about credit. Get / keep a good credit rating. Don't do things that will damage your credit rating.
9. Do good at work, applying your education, discipline, respect, and motivation. Get recognized for excellent work. Get promoted.

Do this and the cycle is broken. You are a success. Maybe not Chairman of the FCC or President of the United States, but still ... easily as successful as anybody reading this post on Slashdot. Try not to beat the living shit out of your kids when they are teenagers and they try to break your momentum, or try to fall back into the original cycle.

I didn't bother to count how many words...

[explosivejared]

... Laser based thief destruction system. If there is anything you learn from being an American, and I am proudly one, it is that you can't overspend on defense. You gotta make all those thieving morons out there realize that they are dealing with death here.

Also, to back up the laser grid, I'd go with some more conventional systems, eg an automated machine gun turret and an anti-personnel mine field.

Re:I didn't bother to count how many words...

[Plazmid]

Yeah, but those features are only available to Black Mesa employees.

Re:I didn't bother to count how many words...

[Hal_Porter]

There will be legal problems if you trap a human thief though. Even if you file down the sides of the bear trap and a leave a stash of twinkies nearby so they don't starve over a long weekend. And land mines are right out. Trust me, I speak from experience.

Re:I didn't bother to count how many words...

[Speare]

My daughter got one of these toy safes with a "laser" security system. You have to teach it a passcode, and it won't open without it. But if you disrupt the little beams across its door, it starts an annoying klaxon and light-show that lasts a long 30 seconds. I cringed at her must-be-secure attitude, locking up her little valuables, especially since she's an ONLY CHILD. I tripped it "accidentally" a couple times just so she would feel like it was doing its job.

However, I'm quite happy with how it backfired. Very valuable security lessons! It has taught her that security is inversely proportional to convenience, that the more complicated a mechanism is the more likely it will fail, that honestly accidental infractions can't be prosecuted like infractions with intent, and when a security system fails she can't access her own stuff. It eats batteries like crazy. It acts stupid when the batteries are low, so she has to recode it every week or two. Also, it blinks red at weird intervals all night to remind her that either she can't trust people around her, or she is being unnecessarily paranoid. I think the safe is now without batteries and empty.

Where the hell do you work???

[mooingyak]

Every desk that I've had, whether it's been in an office, a cubicle, or just a table in the middle of a large room has been accessible to virtually everyone who works there. And yet, shockingly, nothing has disappeared on me.

The most I've done security-wise is to avoid leaving some of the more likely theft targets out in the open, but I've never worried about actually locking them away.

In the companies that I have worked for, if things disappear off of desks, someone (co-workers, cleaning staff, whatever) is going to be fired for it.

Re:Where the hell do you work???

[ribit]

This just sounds silly. Use password security, encrypt documents, use a cable lock (You can get USB drives with this feature), but anything more sounds like overkill. Don't they have insurance and security rules and policies to cover anything that gets stolen while reasonably secured? i.e. beyond you doing basic security measures, it shouldn't be your problem.

Security

[AndresCP]

Have you had a bad experience with cable locks? In my experience, they're pretty secure, and if people in your office have such sticky fingers that a cable lock is no deterrent, you should quit working in a crack house and get a different job.

However, assuming you don't go cable lock + locked drawer:

The convenience of just sticking stuff in a big metal box is appealing; have you considered building one yourself? It doesn't seem too difficult if you can find access to the tools.

Re:One word...

[Plazmid]

Easily solved with a desiccants or putting the items to be secured in a separate chamber.

Working in a crack house

[BadAnalogyGuy]

While the pay is pretty shitty and the working conditions are deplorable, the smoke breaks really make the job worthwhile.

My workplace is so honest...

[raehl]

Somebody who left the company left a beer in the fridge.

6 years ago.

It's still there.

Either that, or someone who does not normally drink has stashed the beer there in the event they do have to leave the company...

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[mikael]

That's happened at two of the places I have worked ... The first was a company that had a "There shall be no fighting in the main reception during office hours" clause in the employment contract and the other was in a university research lab. In both cases the can of beer had been hidden in the very back of a filing cabinet, below the racks of papers, over three years old, slightly rusted but still airtight. Other items included similarly aged boxes of sugar cubes, blobs of blue tack and pizza discount vouchers.

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[Marcos Eliziario]

how are the prices going for vintage beer? I really hope at least is not one of those shitty Budweisers you americans dare to drink.

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[ceoyoyo]

With a clause like that you just HAVE to arrange a fight for 5:01.

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[grnbrg]

You DO NOT talk about Fight Club!

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[cp.tar]

With a clause like that you just HAVE to arrange a fight for 5:01.

5:01 in the reception area. But you can also move an existing fight to the reception area.

Sounds like a fun place to work at.

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[nospam007]

Somebody who left the company left a beer in the fridge.

6 years ago.

It's still there.

Unfortunately he also left a ground beef sandwich.

Re:My workplace is so honest...

[cayenne8]

"Unfortunately he also left a ground beef sandwich."

What the hell is a ground beef sandwich?

You mean a hamburger?

Find people you can trust.

[Mr0bvious]

I think you're looking for a solution to a symptom, not the problem.

Your problem is that you work with people you can't trust. Look for a job elsewhere... I couldn't imagine working with people I couldn't trust..

Lateral thinking...

[lelitsch]

Maybe you should consider switching jobs to a company that isn't populated by thieves or situated in a crack alley?

so.. why have a laptop?

[gatekeep]

So let me get this right... you're leaving your laptop on your desk powered on every night. Why do you have a laptop?

If you just use a regular tower you can user a large internal drive, or a few larger internal drives, removing the need for the extra drive. Then your problem becomes securing a tower. There are many desks and enclosers for securing towers.

As for a keyboard and mouse, if you're worried about your keyboard and mouse being stolen I'd recommend you find another job.

Physical and logical security

[mlts]

To the OP: How bad is the thievery rate? Is it a place where anybody can enter to possibly steal, or is it a place where you need locks to keep honest people honest?

You can get some decent cable locks that are Bic Pen resistant. I use these:

http://us.kensington.com/html/11208.html
on all my equipment, be it desktop or laptop. Of course, they can be cut, but it would be a dedicated effort to do so.

First, the locking cabinet is an idea, but of course if someone is desperate enough to cut cable locks, they likely will try for the cabinet if its not bolted down. You could go with a motion detecting alarm, or a locking cable that has an alarm that will sound if cut, but co-workers will get really annoyed if the system makes false alarms often.

Kensington's alarmed lock: http://us.kensington.com/html/6311.html

Second, have you considered a dock for your laptop, if one is available? Almost all docks have some way of locking the laptop to the dock either via a lever and a padlock or something using a Kensington lock slot. Then, you can hook all your monitors and items to the dock and just do a simple eject to hit the road with your laptop.

Third, have you considered logical security? If you are worried about data theft as opposed to physical, consider something like TrueCrypt that can encrypt your Windows boot/system drive, and also encrypt data on external drives. If you use keyfiles, after you type in your preboot passphrase, the external drives can automount while still providing security from thieves. For further protection, you can use TrueCrypt on external drives, and use PGP's whole disk encryption with a cryptographic hardware token. Then, you can use cable locks for your devices and if someone does steal one, it will be "merely" a hardware theft rather than hardware and sensitive data.

Last, if you can't find a metal box, have you considered hitting a metal shop with the dimensions of what you want for a cage, and having them weld you up one? I have had this done (and the cage bolted down solidly) when I wanted to make sure some file servers, switch, and a router would not be stolen. Even though I did not know who other than myself had the key to the room the equipment was in, only I had the key to that cage, so I knew that the equipment might be powered off or perhaps vandalized, it wouldn't be stolen without some major effort. A welder can use pinless hinges and tabs so someone attempting to break into the cage by a crowbar wouldn't be successful.

Re:Physical and logical security

[NexusTw1n]

Of course, they can be cut, but it would be a dedicated effort to do so.

Kensington Locks stop passers by stealing your laptop.

They do not stop thieves. I've seen a demonstration where the t-bar is prised out of the laptop in under 5 seconds with a screwdriver. Yes, the plastic case of the laptop around the lockhole will be damaged, but other than that, the laptop will be fine.

All the advertising blurb about the strength of the cable is nonsense, the weak point on all laptop security cables is the anchor which is just a hole cut in plastic.

They are good for keeping honest people honest, but are useless for protecting your laptop from a thief with a screwdriver.

Re:GPS

[mlts]

That is a good suggestion. A lot of laptops (Dell and HP definitely) of recent make have BIOS level hooks for Computrace's LoJack software, so even if the drive is wiped, the machine will still be able to phone home and check if its flagged stolen as soon as its booted.

LoJack also offers a facility for remote deletion of data so if a really sensitive laptop is stolen, it can be securely erased by remote, similar to how one can wipe Blackberries and Windows Mobile devices if lost or stolen.

Perfect solution

[jollyreaper]

Get crappier stuff nobody will steal, problem solved.

Re:Perfect solution

[jamesh]

Get crappier stuff nobody will steal, problem solved.

Or an extension to your solution - get crappier stuff, take the logos off it, and stick it on your stuff. Once your HP branded laptop has 'Apple' written all over it nobody will touch it.

...

Ouch ouch the flames are burning me!!!

Suck it up, princess.

[MoneyCityManiac]

Honestly, this sounds like someone who's just bitter about losing their office to a cubicle and causing a stink.

Your laptop and associated paraphernalia are the property of your company. If they happen to find legs then that's an issue for your company to deal with, not you. Hopefully you back up your data, so if your laptop does grow legs it's just a day or two to get up and running with a new lappy.

Besides, your co-workers are in the same position, so if they're not reporting thefts then you probably won't be either. And if there is a problem of theft in your office then perhaps you should be pushing your manager to make your workplace more secure, rather just just your workspace.

High voltage

[www.sorehands.com]

Get an old 24 inch CRT monitor and wire the flyback into an anti-static mat and chair in your cubical. Anyone entering your cubical will get the message that they are not welcome.

Why are you moving to a cube?

[itsybitsy]

Ok, why is your company taking away your office and putting you in a cube? I'd find that intolerable! Action must be taken! Get the office back. Get a desktop computer. Heck, get them to give you many more computers and gadgets, but get the office back or head out the door.

Any company that respects it workers won't put them in cubes. Humans at times need privacy during their work day and that means an office that one can close for quite, and closed blinds for that extra special private moment.

Really though, why did they take away your office? Is it a message that it's time to leave? Was the glass ceiling exceeded, temporarily, on your part? What's up with that?

If your work requires you to have many gadgets then make the case that you require an office for corporate security reasons. Gotta keep those trade secrets secret.

The front door looks good. Find a company that will give you the resources that you need to make both of you wealthy. If you're not wealthy within two years at a company, get out.

Get a Dog

[steelseth]

I would suggest either a Rodweiler or a Doberman.

Is a solution really what he wants

[bombastinator]

About 5 minutes of googling found me vast numbers of things, from laptop locks impervious to the toilet paper tube solution, to locking shelves instead of drawers, to a bar style locking device IIRC I've seen used at CompUSA. Large numbers of people have his issue as evidenced by the large number of solutions available.

My suspicion is that the poster really kinda wants his office back and is making excuses. If this is the case it is natural that no solution is going to work.

Downgraded to a cubicle, eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just wait until they come after your red stapler. Then you'll show 'em.

Hi, I just got demoted...

[rueger]

... from a real office into a cube, and now I'm all pissed off 'cause when I was higher up the food chain I crapped on all of the cube dwellers. Now I'm gonna be one of them and frankly it doesn't look good.

If I had half a brain I'd have treated these folks with respect, or at least would now be trying to make a few friends, but frankly I am just so superior that I can't be bothered. I'm sure that they all resent me -- excuse me -- are envious of me -- and that they are just lying in wait to steal my stuff (OK, it's the company's stuff, but hey it's got MY porn on it, so that's like it's mine) and probably spit on my keyboard and give some horrible cube dweller disease.

So I'm taking preemptive action by bitching and moaning about how everyone else here is dishonest. That way maybe they'll be scared to mess with my stuff, cause everybody knows that I'm on to them.

LapTop Locker

[kayser_soze]

If security is as big of a problem as you make it sound, or you really need to secure a laptop in a very public-accessible environment (think Hospitals, etc...HIPAA), then something like this could be useful: http://www.datumfiling.com/products/laptop-locker

Disclaimer: I work for the company that designed this company's website, but I thought it seemed like a useful product in this context.

[KS]

Easy...

[Repton]

Get the laptop case laser-engraved with goatse. Who's gonna steal it then?

What condensation?

[raehl]

Condensation occurs when the temperature of an object is below the dew point. Dew points go up with an increase in humidity. But dew points are also generally lower than the atmospheric temperature, otherwise it'd be raining. You get dew when the air warms up faster than the ground warms up, so the moisture in the air condenses onto the ground.

But...

If the only thing in his fridge is his laptop, there won't be any moisture in there anyway.

Even if he puts lettuce or some other unsealed moisture-providing item into the fridge, the HOTTEST thing in the fridge, and thus the last thing to get any condensation, is going to be the laptop.

And, in general...

You don't see condensation IN a fridge. Go open your fridge now and tell me how many items in there have condensation on them. Maybe none?

It's when you take your items OUT of the fridge that moisture condenses onto them, since they are colder than the air they are in.

So, really, no condensation worries, as long as he doesn't take the laptop out of a cold fridge.

Re:What condensation?

[raehl]

Or you just bring the internal temp of the fridge up to room temp before taking it out.

A solution: webcam. But you have other problems...

[wernst]

I'm going to get to a solution first, but you have other problems.

For security, put up a webcam or two in your new cubicle: both overlooking your workspace. Make sure they are visible and have bright or blinking LEDs, so they'll be really noticed. Put up a warning sign saying that this space is remotely monitored and digitally recored. Even if it really isn't, the warning should be enough to keep the basic rif-raff away. Sometimes deterrence is better than physical security...

Now then. Here's the real problem.

You speak as if this notebook is your personal property. It really shouldn't be. Your company should be supplying you with the equipment you need to do your job, and if the company equipment gets stolen when you're not around, that's the company's fucking problem, not yours.

Secondly, you say this notebook has an external monitor, standalone keyboard and separate mouse. That sure sounds like a desktop computer to me. Get one instead of the notebook, and the chances of your computer walking off are slim to none.

Third, what place are you working in where you fear your stuff will be taken? I've done time in cubicles since 1988, in places ranging from digital sweatshops, to NASA-type work with spaceship software support, to fortune-500 joints. Never once have I ever had anything taken from my desk more serious than a stapler. I don't even lock the drawers or file cabinets.

Maybe it's time to look for a new shop, since they don't supply you properly, kicked you out of your office, and they employ co-workers that you fear will steal your shit.

Why would I bring my own laptop?

[holygoat]

You try working on Windows all day. I'd far rather bring my own Mac to work.

Re:Why would I bring my own laptop?

[LaskoVortex]

pity mac's are incompatible with everything used in the business world

Pity you have no idea what you are talking about. Its also a pity everyone wastes mod points constantly when they could save them for obvious flamebait like yours. You should really provide an example or two--and do your research too before you carelessly throw out misinformation, so you don't continue to appear so ignorant. The same goes for similar digs on linux.

Re:Why would I bring my own laptop?

[Swampash]

I'm working on a project that requires quite a bit of photo editing and creativity, and unfortunately our workstations are locked down and we don't have software or storage space available for such projects.

So your workplace doesn't provide you with the tools you need to do work?

Sheesh, these stories are variations on a theme of Frog Not Wanting To Get Out Of The Boiling Water.

Tuff Shed

[pavon]

If this is the case it is natural that no solution is going to work. Oh, I think there is a solution that will work, he just needs to get a lockable container that is a little bigger. Something that can't be stolen, and will hold all his equipment without inconveineince. Something that will make him feel more at home again. That's right, he needs to get a Tuff Shed. Just plop it right down in the middle of the cubefarm. Sure he won't have any lighting, but he's a programmer dog-gone-it; the glow of his monitor is all the light he needs. And when the boss asks what the hell this monstrosity is doing in his building, he'll just mumble something about a stapler. So they might move him down to the basement. A true hacker is only truly at home when in the basement. See, there is a solution. You just need to think out of the cube - and into the shed. Tuff Shed.

serious no sarcasm answer

[NoGuffCheck]

1) biometric finger print reader
2) cable lock for laptop and external monitor(they really are quite good)
3) pre boot authentication (integrated with finger pricnt reader)
4) full disk encryption - Utimaco Safeguard Easy (integrated with finger pricnt reader)
5) data dot dna (tiny dots with serial numbers that can be stuck/hidden on your equipment)
6) Computrace (software that cannot easily be removed and so when your stolen machine connects to the internet it will send its location to the computrace who will work with the ISP local law enforment to retrieve the stolen machine)
7) SafeEnd End point security, individually controls/records usb, i/o, ethernet ports
8) insurance

i got all this with my thinkpad, not because my co-workers are theives but because my companies insurance premiums are high and i have sensitive customer data on my machine which is required by law to be encrypted.

Re:serious no sarcasm answer

[cp.tar]

Or, if you have a MacBook, you could look into MultiAlarm, which makes use of MacBook's highly sensitive motion sensors.
It can lock the screen, play a sound file (I picked the extremely annoying high-pitched beep) when it is jiggled ever so slightly (adjustable sensitivity), take a pic of who/whatever's in front of it and ftp it to a server of your choosing and a few other options.

If you turn off the warning sound and set the sensitivity real high, anyone foolish enough to detach anything from your laptop will jiggle it enough to have his picture taken.

Re:serious no sarcasm answer

[Thanshin]

It can lock the screen, play a sound file (I picked the extremely annoying high-pitched beep) when it is jiggled ever so slightly (adjustable sensitivity), take a pic of who/whatever's in front of it and ftp it to a server of your choosing and a few other options. But can it explode like a Dell?

It's been said a gazillion times...

[Tastecicles]

...but, let me reiterate in case you've missed it: if you fear your personal property going walkies, there are two obvious solutions:

1. Don't bring your personal property to work. I don't, even though I work in a very professional environment; this is no reflection on the people I have working alongside me, it's a reflection on the clients. I have no idea of house policies regarding contractors' equipment hence I don't take the chance that they'll say "Oh, you're missing the tools of your trade? Well, tough shit." I take what I need to get the job done and I do a head count before and after. And NO WAY IN HELL do I take my eyes off of anything with a screen (notebook, PDA, whatever). Heck, the only cash I take a £10 stash for a meal and a bus. Apart from my keys and the clothes on my back, and a wouldn't-want-to-steal-it Nokia 3410.

2. Find another job. It's obvious you're insecure about your work environment, and who could blame you for making that decision? You're obviously not happy which must severely impact on your productivity.

As to notebook security in and of itself, the two things I would do if I really needed to leave one onsite for remote login are: a. remove the battery. These are expensive to replace, and nobody in their right mind would consider buying a hot laptop with no battery, and b. put a supervisor and a user password on the BIOS (both different and nondictionary words), this renders the unit completely useless to anyone who doesn't have your memory and your battery, as obviously the moment they unplug it it will power off. As a postnote, mark the unit in such a way as to make it screamingly identifiable (such as the inside of the bezel in acid etch or the battery bay by the same method) without too much effort.

So? Let them steal it... ON CAMERA!

[JonTurner]

Use a cable-lock to deter a "theft of convenience," but also set up a motion-sensing, tracking webcam and stream the video to a network share. In addition to monitoring the efficiency of the janitorial staff, you'll also learn who keeps stealing all the good chocolates from your candy dish.

Oh, and in the off-hand chance someone takes your laptop, just pull up the video/stills from the network and you'll have all the evidence you need to get the thief fired. Just print out the images, and take a nice little stroll down to HR...

Kamikasee's not even a /. regular

[Amigori]

Seriously, look his profile and you'll see 4, yes FOUR, comments over 6 years. I don't post that often, but I do read /. often. 1 Submission for 4 comments? Not a bad ratio.

My On-Topic comments have all been covered by others, Get a Desktop, Webcams, Lockable cabinets, Leave your personal laptop at home, let the company handle it, etc.

Makes me wonder if he just got kicked from one of the other sites... Or that his (personal) laptop is behind a work firewall blocking slashdot... Or that he was an arrogant jerk in the office that's about to get his comeuppance in the cube farm...

$30 webcam

[nick_davison]

Stick a $30 webcam under a pile of junk so it's not hugely obvious. You've already said your machine is networked all night. Leave it taking a shot every half second and uploading it to an external server.

Sure, it'll still get stolen. Assuming your office has even basic security to ensure only known people enter, you'll also have a nice and recognizable picture of the thief on a machine they can't access. The next morning, you walk in, grab the image, have them pulled in front of their manager, demand the return of the laptop, have them fired and press charges.

Honestly, the vast majority of cases where people have been convinced someone's stolen their stuff, everywhere I've worked, have turned out to be their misplacing things. Most likely, the theft rate is nowhere near what you fear it is.

Locking your laptop in a big ol box is an ugly pain in the ass for little gain. Hell, if someone really wants it, a crowbar will get through most of them, bolt cutters will get through most chains. And it does nothing to protect the iPod, digital camera, phone, etc. you left beside it. A simple webcam, backing up externally, does a far better job of protecting everything so long as it's subtly enough hidden so no one has any idea they need to avoid being seen by it.

The biggest problem with physical security measures... If someone's determined, they try forcing it. You may get lucky and not have them manage to get whatever they went for... But it'll likely get trashed in the process. The University of the West of England added those U plates to their PC cases, years back... All that happened was thieves trashed the cases. A few less got stolen but they were pretty much destroyed anyway. Having a picture of the thief with your still 100% intact laptop is way better than their trashing it, trying to get it out of a cage.

Re:$30 webcam

[oDDmON oUT]

The next morning, you walk in, grab the image, have them pulled in front of their manager, demand the return of the laptop, have them fired and press charges.

Nice in theory, too bad it won't necessarily work out that way.

True story:

Where I work (with offices), a female manager noticed when she'd come in in the morning that items on her desk were misplaced, the computer was on when she'd turned it off and did exactly what you suggested, bought a webcam and left it running.

Seems a member of the cleaning crew was accessing both her office and her computer, going to NSFW sites and having "personal moments" in her chair, on a regular basis.

Confronted, his supervisor notified, it looked like the spunk monkey was on his way out on a rail. Then Legal got involved.

The long and short of it, since he was not notified that he was on camera there was fear he'd find a good piranha to file an "invasion of privacy" suit and our outfit didn't want the negative publicity, he was not fired. Additionally, the manager was told she must pull the camera, even though everyone now knew it was there.

He kept his job, she bought hand sanitizer by the gallon, and tried not to think about what might have gone on in her chair in the dark of the night.

True story, swear to god.

the perfect solution

[hazem]

Besides, cable locks won't help me secure my the USB drive and other electronics that might wander off. The solution I imagine is a lockable, ventilated metal box that would sit under the monitor and house most of the electronics. If it was big enough, I could stick my laptop into it at night (while leaving it running) and feel confident that it would still be there in the morning. I'd be open to other types of solutions. Surely someone else must have dealt with this problem."

This is a common problem and what you're looking for is called a desktop computer. It's a box that sits under the monitor with all the electronics enclosed inside. It even has fans and vents to keep it all working at a proper temperature. /sarcasm

Seriously, the whole point of a laptop is that it's portable and convenient to carry around, which also makes it easy to steal. The desktop can do all the things you need and will probably be more powerful than your laptop and cost about the same as some kind of powered box for locking your laptop in.

Then you can just leave the laptop locked in your drawer for when you need to work away from the desk.

One possible solution.

[Lunarsight]

One suggestion they often make at my office for laptop users who work in cubicles is to take the laptop home with them.

Of course, this depends on your security at home - you have to ask yourself if your home is more secure than your cubicle, and could the laptop possibly get lost in transit?

Another possibility - you could bury landmines near your cubicle to thwart any potential thieves. (You want the sort of landmine that you can deactivate during the day, though - I think you can purchase them on eBay.)

Re:One possible solution.

[Lunarsight]

Another possibility - you could bury landmines near your cubicle to thwart any potential thieves. How? By digging through concrete with a spade? ------

Nah, that would just be silly.

I would just covertly hide it under the office carpeting..

Translation of OP's question into Accurate English

[jolyonr]

"My boss wants me to move out of my nice office into a cubicle, give me some nice EXPENSIVE technical bullshit reason I can give him to dissuade him."

Re:serious sarcasm answer

[Anonymous Coward]

A MacBook - 2000$

MultiAlarm, which plays an extremely annoying high-pitched sound file - 175.95$

Getting your laptop smashed by a sledgehammer after your friendly co-worker accidently moved it - Priceless!

Remote-desktop to a laptop?

[Jim Hall]

At my work, we had a group that would regularly purchase 2 laptops for every developer: one for them to use at home, and one for them to Remote-desktop into. I think the idea was that developers could take their laptops to meetings, but would be able to Remote into it from home so they wouldn't have to replicate tools, etc. When we started purchasing centrally, we stopped that practice. If you have a laptop, it's because you need to be highly mobile, and you should take the laptop with you.

Laptops tend to disappear, no matter how well protected. During the day, not so great a risk (cable lock is sufficient.) At night, it's a greater risk because you rely on Security to keep an eye on it for you. In a cubicle, that's just a matter of time before it goes away. And all the data that was on it - are you sure none of it was sensitive data, i.e. reportable? Do yourself a favor: if you have a laptop, take it home with you. If you don't want to take it home with you, then get a desktop PC.

Re:serious sarcasm answer

[cp.tar]

A MacBook - 2000$

MultiAlarm, which plays an extremely annoying high-pitched sound file - 175.95$

Getting your laptop smashed by a sledgehammer after your friendly co-worker accidently moved it - Priceless!

First, it only plays the annoying sound file if you select that option, which is not the interesting one here.

Second, $175.95? I remember downloading it for free. What on Earth are you talking about?

It's the cleaning crew

[mnemotronic]

Don't leave anything small & valuable laying around. Turn the laptop off and take it home or lock it up. Same with USB drives. Stuff like mouse, kbd, printers, KVM and hubs/switches/routers are safe. Think "resale dollars / danger points". Big stuff has more danger points because it's harder to sneak out.

[off-topic point] -- How are you connecting from home, i.e. are you using a company machine or your own? Don't use your own personal equipment to connect to the company network. Being a slash-dotter you're probably smart enough to keep a system virus-free, but there's always that rare zero-day exploit that could slip into the company via your machine - points off for you. Or someone else connecting from home who is less careful could introduce malware into the company network. After that is cleaned up, which will cost a lot of time and money, management will want the IT/Security dept to perform a binary colonoscopy on every personal PC ever connected to the network, and for HR to institute a policy stating: "connecting a non-company computer to the company network is grounds for termination". NOTE: A similiar policy is in place where I work.

Re:serious sarcasm answer

[cyborch]

You probably downloaded iAlertU, which is quite free and has most of the same features.

Wow.

[neowolf]

Where on Earth do you work that you have to be THAT concerned about your computer in a cubicle farm? Does your company have NO security at all? How do the other workers there lock up their hardware? Are you working in a prison or something?

Take the laptop home with you at night if you are that worried about it, and lock everything else up in a file cabinet or desk drawer. If the company won't let you take the laptop home- then why the hell are you worried about someone else taking it? What's the point of even having a laptop if you can't take it with you? If you back things up to a USB drive- take that with you if you can. At least if it does get ripped off- you will still have your data.

If you have to leave it- just get a cable lock and lock your Windows desktop before you go. If you want higher security, and have access- lock it up in the server room or a wiring closet. You can still keep it powered on and connected to the network there.

It's also always a good idea to password protect your laptop's HDD and BIOS. Sure- there are ways to bypass them, but several layers of security are always better than just one. As another layer- encrypt your NTFS data. Be sure to save the encryption key somewhere (like on a thumb drive at home), or you are screwed if Windows crashes and you have to re-install. You can also use any of a variety of encryption programs, like TrueCrypt.

Obscurity good. ONLY obscurity bad.

[tepples]

security through obscurity? havent we been over this? Obscurity shouldn't be your only security measure, but each layer of obscurity does add one or more "bits", so to speak, to your existing measures.

Take it home

[gujo-odori]

The only really secure solution for your laptop is to take it home.

Not long, my company suffered an after-hours break-in in which internal card-key protected doors were forced open with pry bars, and a number of laptops stolen. At least one of them was on a cable lock. According to the internal email about the incident, the thieves simply tore the cable lock from the computer and took it. Apparently, they either thought it could be fenced even with the cable lock hole broken, or intended it for personal use. Policy on notebook computers - that you should either take them home or lock them in your overhead bin at night - was reiterated in the wake of this incident. Door security was also improved after the horse had left the barn :p

A ventilated metal box would offer more security than a cable lock, however, in the event of an after-hours break-in, anyone who really wants your computer is going to get it out of the box, or take the whole box. An overhead bin is more secure because there's no easy way to tell if there's a laptop inside, unlike with the box you describe. It would be pretty obvious the box contained a laptop, and probably a valuable one; why else go to such lengths to protect it? That could make yours a more attractive target to a thief with time.

Taking it home with you is really the most secure option. In the break-in at my company, my MacBook Pro was not one of the ones stolen because I *always* take it home at night. Being paranoid, uh, I mean "security-conscious" during the day I lock it to my desk with a cable lock, especially since I sit pretty near a stairway door.