Ask Slashdot: Protecting Tech Gear From Smash-and-Grab Theft?

rstory writes "I seem to be hearing about more smash and grab thefts lately, from low-tech purse snatching to thieves after laptops and cameras. Bold thieves are even snatching stuff in church/day-care parking lots in the 5 minute window while a parent goes in to pick up their child. I often drive around with my laptop, and want to find the best way to protect against theft. Besides the obvious 'don't leave equipment in the car' solution, what else are people doing? Right now I just use a regular backpack instead of a fancy laptop case. I don't have a trunk, so when I leave the car I put the backpack on the floor of the back seat, sometimes throwing other junk on top. The only interesting thing I've found while googling is a couple of 'anti-theft' backpacks which have wire mesh to prevent cutting them open and a (thin looking) cable for securing to a stationary object. What do you do to protect your gear?"

Comments

you can track your laptops

[adeelarshad82]

Well for laptops you can install software that can help you track your laptop or protect your files from a remote location. There are ton of them out there, listed in the article below http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387748,00.asp

Re:you can track your laptops

[houstonbofh]

Well, the location can be tracked from the second it laptop is turned on and since wiping a laptop isn't instantaneous it gives you a (very) small window to track the culprit.

How does it do this with no Internet and booting from a system recovery disk? It is only helpful to catch the stupid criminals. Admittedly, that is most of them.

But it does nothing for the real problem. You now need a new window and backpack. The only good solution is to avoid the smash...

Re:you can track your laptops

[Daniel_Staal]

Slightly more low-tech, but giving the same idea of 'make it trackable' is Stuffbak. It's just a (hard to remove) sticker, but it means you can prove a specific device is yours.

But none of this is prevention. If you can't hide it and you can't lock it, take it with you.

Re:you can track your laptops

[CohibaVancouver]

What happens when the perp wipes the hard drive? Barring some BIOS magic, your software just disappears

LoJack for Laptops has code in the firmware of all of the major laptop manufacturers. The code is dormant, but wakes up when you install the product. Once activated, the code checks for the presence of the LoJack agent on the hard drive and replaces it if it's removed or if it's been tampered with. It will survived an OS re-install, hard drive wipe - Even a hard drive swap.

Re:you can track your laptops

[rickb928]

My work laptop drive is encrypted. We consider the data far more valuable than the hardware, and they can have it.

My personal tablet notebook has the TPC engaged, and without the drive (which is unique and expensive) it's worthless. If I'm at all competent as a thief, I know this and avoid that model and those similar. The meth heads aren't, so I would probably check CL and find it for sale in a day or so. Ring ring.

In fact, my work notebook, when it is replaced, is essentially scrap. We have to shred the drives, rendering the rest of it worth zilch. Kinda sad.

Personally, I would bolt an eye to a seat, use a Kensington cable, and if it is really that bad thread the cable through the bag onto the notebook. This is mostly to slow down a thief, and leave you with a broken window instead. First step is to camo the bag, either slipping it under a seat or behind something innocuous. In the convertible you can hardly see my bag. In the Explorer, slipping it under a rear seat makes it virtually invisible also. Anyone who sees me do that of course knows the trick, but that's an even smaller window of opportunity. A decent car alarm will help some, but your window is busted anyways. LoJack for laptops sounds good until you find out it's in India.

Re:you can track your laptops

[CohibaVancouver]

Unless you take the HD out and replace it with a clean one...

LoJack for Laptops has code in the firmware of most laptops that allows it to persist across a hard drive swap.

Re:you can track your laptops

[CohibaVancouver]

But can it install to odd linux format types?

No, it only persists to windows - But the general thief use case that we've experienced is the re-installation of Windows so it can be sold on Craigslist. Re-installing Linux devalues the resale value of the asset.

Re:you can track your laptops

[berzerke]

According a Houston PD officer in the auto thefts division, the worst place you can put something is on the floor of passenger back seat. That's the first place someone looking to do a smash and grab looks.

Also be aware of someone walking around the parking lot (near cars) that appears to be talking on a cell phone. That's a definite "take it with me or leave" red flag.

Re:you can track your laptops

[Lumpy]

Yes it is. Dell laptop "Bios lojack" is as easy to defeat as wiping the NVRAM settings. Been there done that. Watched a BIOS update reset it on a Dell Studio.

Re:you can track your laptops

[CohibaVancouver]

Ok, so the thief steals it, re-installs Windows but never directly connects it back to the internet. He then sells it on Craigslist, and when the person who bought it connects it to the internet, it leads back to a person who didn't steal it.

You still get your computer back.

Or if they really know what they are doing, modifies or flashes an already modified BIOS to the machine and takes out the LoJack completely.

This is extremely difficult to do, and is usually unsuccessful.

Or the most likely - victim tracks down the vicinity where it is reported the stolen laptop is. Gets the technically clueless police department involved who don't understand what you are trying to tell them, and are unwilling/unable to help. This has happened to several of my friends while tracking stolen cell phones.

This is why the LoJack for Laptops recovery team manages the recovery process, not the end user. This is what you're paying for when you buy the service - It's the team of professional ex-cops who work with law enforcement to get your stuff back.

Re:you can track your laptops

[CohibaVancouver]

do you know anyone who has actually recovered a laptop successfully using LoJack?

Yes.

http://blog.absolute.com/20000-recoveries-and-counting/

They don't 'bend the law' - They just do all the legwork for the police. They basically say here's a stolen computer, here's all the forensic evidence proving who the thief is and here's what you need when you go in front of a judge. They do all the (legal) investigative work that holds up in court.

Re:you can track your laptops

[tnk1]

You don't need to bend the law for a former professional to be useful. You just need to know how to report an issue so it becomes a priority. Also, they know what you need to give to the cops to make it easy enough for them to go take care of it with little hassle. If the ex-cops know how to make life easier on already overworked cops, it is much more likely that the cops will work your case in preference to another one.

On the other hand, they also know procedure and the law so that the cops they work with can't try and brush you off with an excuse or some paperwork. If a cop is lazy, the ex-cop will know to perhaps ask for a sergeant and then quote some line and verse at them which is technically available for any citizen to use, but only cops know that it is there and how to invoke it.

Finally, they realize that a company that handles dozens of these a day may well be one that they have to take seriously. As an individual, you're powerless against the police machinery, but a company with lawyers on retainer, ex-cops, and PR people are much more of a force to be reckoned with.

It's all about bureaucracy and how to navigate it. Technically it's nothing that you couldn't do yourself, but you wouldn't even know where to start.

Personalize it

[Jeng]

It is a lot harder to sell a laptop covered in stickers and scratches than it is to sell a laptop that is in mint condition.

It might not look professional, but that is kinda the point.

Re:Take valuables with you.

[TubeSteak]

If you can't take it with you, put it in the boot (trunk) - much harder to smash and grab from the boot,

I don't know where you got that idea.
Trunk locks are utter crap and trunk latches are just as bad.
Not to mention that they can just smash a window and pull the trunk release.

All things being equal, you should prefer someone smashing a window
and pulling the trunk release instead of prying open your trunk with a crowbar.

Re:Take valuables with you.

[Richard_at_work]

Sounds like cars are better built for the European market... Boot locks on all cars I have owned have been secure, and very few cars I have owned have had a boot release in the passenger compartment (I'm not saying they don't exist, but out of my seven cars, only one has had one) - normally it's either a manual release on the boot itself, or you have to use the key to pop it.

The main thing about sticking stuff in the boot is that it's out of sight - how many thieves will attack the boot on the off chance when there's other cars...?

Garbage is unappetizing.

[AugstWest]

I drive a Jeep Wrangler, which is as secure as a tent. Basically, it IS a tent.

So the passenger's side floor is pretty much always full of Dunkin Donuts trash. I slide my laptop bag under it all, throw a few empty coffee cups on top, and noone's going to think there's anything interesting to steal.

Out-of-sight, out-of-mind works very well.

Re:550 Amp Truck Battery connected to metal briefc

[SecurityGuy]

A 12 volt battery will only deliver 550 amps through a 0.21 ohm load. Since the human body is around 50,000 or more, your "friend" would have delivered a whopping 0.00024 amps to the would-be thief, which you can't even feel. Sorry, but I used to be a truck mechanic and the batteries were rated a good bit higher than 550 CCA. I touched both terminals numerous times, and you really feel nothing. I started trucks by shorting across the starter numerous times which touching the frame. Nothing.

Now, the ignition coil at around 20kV, would be a very different thing. I never experienced that first hand since everything I worked on was diesel, but my mechanic friends told me it hurt like a s.o.b.

It's all a cat and mouse game, but ....

[King_TJ]

having been the victim of a smash and grab myself (stole my GPS unit when I parked in a small public lot and went into a Qdoba Grill for about 5 minutes to pick up a meal to go), I'd say one of the best things you can do is make it appear there's absolutely nothing in your car or truck.

Most smash and grab thieves are looking through the windows of the vehicles they pass by for *anything* they think they might want to take and get a few dollars from. Spare coins sitting in an ashtray that's opened partially? Yep, enough reason to smash and grab! (They did it to my younger brother *3* times, stealing a total of about 79 cents, when he parked in his college's lot! If they even see a few pennies, they think maybe there's more than that in the tray they aren't seeing, and money's money.)

So as other people said, keep things in your trunk or even in the glove-box or center console, or under the seat if that's doable ... anything to keep stuff from being on display through your windows. Very few of these people would bother smashing your window just to take a guess that maybe you have something good in your glovebox or under a seat. They'd rather walk on to the next car or truck where they can see something definite inside.)

The exception to that rule is when someone watched you put something of value away in your vehicle. Years ago, I worked for a company that just purchased a new, high-end laptop for one of their salesmen. The day after I configured it for him and issued it to him, he went someplace to take a client to dinner and put the laptop, in its carrying bag, in the trunk of his car. Someone saw it, and when he got back, he found they had taken a crowbar to his trunk and pried it open to steal the machine. That's a different type of thief though, really.

Of course, people keep saying "Don't ever LEAVE anything in your car! Take it with you!" .... but I know this isn't always practical or realistic. Sometimes, you put an item at more risk taking it with you than leaving it in the vehicle -- or you really don't have a good place to put the thing if you take it with you. In the summer, I've had times I didn't even have any pockets in the clothes I happened to be wearing, so just taking my car keys with me was enough of a hassle. That's why I'd go with the idea of just ensuring the stuff is concealed outside of plain view, and try to do so in an inconspicuous manner, just in case someone IS watching you.

If, say, your only item(s) of value are locked in the trunk already, you might even want to just leave the windows rolled down or the car unlocked? I know a few people who do this regularly in high crime parts of town they live or work in, because all in all, replacing the broken window glass is more of a costly problem/risk than anything else. If the thief doesn't have your keys, they're not likely to steal the car itself unless they're enough of an expert that they were going to do it regardless of the doors being locked or windows being rolled up.