Slashdot Mirror
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?"
If I park somewhere that has a reasonable chance of a smash-and-grab, I take valuables with me.
Period.
Who cares if it's locked down to something, if it looks like there is something valuable in the car, it's going to get broken in to. And if they can't take the thing they really want, they'll likely do extra damage, just because.
Other than that, I try to avoid leaving my car in locations that I worry about its safety.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
My dog would fiercely defend my car to his death. I'd much rather just lose the laptop.
What happens when the perp wipes the hard drive? Barring some BIOS magic, your software just disappears. That's the first thing I do when I steal laptops.
If I'm going around with my laptop, I put it in the inconspicuous place in my car *before* I get in my car. Not after I've stopped and everyone nearby can see that I'm hiding something valuable.
t
The location can be tracked as soon as your OS loads, you can wipe a laptop without ever loading the OS
Surprised nobody else has said it, but it also helps if you have a piece-of-junk car. People don't expect to find anything worth stealing if you have visible rust and dents on a 10-year-old Ford or Saturn. I've never had a car broken into, and I frequently leave (small amounts of) cash in plain sight and a backpack with a laptop in the back seat.
tech related a question as you hoped. If you really want to fix it you need to address inherent flaws in consumer capitalism, market driven sales, and social inequality.
churches, children, whatever the hell a five minute window is, are not all universally shared and certified as morally sanctified places; in other words, thieves dont care. asking slaskdot what product we would consume in order to protect the products we consume is perpetuating the very same problem that causes the kinds of thefts you've outlined in the first place.
the only reasonable solution is to buy a reasonably sized laptop that does what you need; perhaps something used on ebay. Bring the laptop where and when you think you will need it, and its dated appearance will likely serve the dual purpose of deterring thieves who want a very nice looking laptop, as well as preventing you from using it as a suburbanite status symbol. backup your data often so that if and when the laptop is stolen, a quick restore to another relatively inexpensive ebay laptop will solve the bulk of your problems.
Good people go to bed earlier.
On the other hand, liquid bleach will do wonders over a period of a week
I just want to point out something that should be obvious, but deserves to be pointed out nonetheless: Don't be an idiot. If you don't know what you're doing, don't go around mixing random shit together. It's not very hard to win yourself a Darwin award by mixing oxygen bleach with gasoline or chlorine bleach with any of a long list of things that will release chlorine gas.
In your case, what would happen is the perp would break into your car to grab the fake laptop, discover it's a fake laptop, and then he'd notice the black cloth and you would be out the real laptop. :)
Jason
And probably a couple more windows because you just pissed him off.
I had my car broken into once, had my girlfriend's purse stolen and my new speakers stolen. They couldn't get the radio out so they just smashed it and much of the dash.
Best way to save your stuff is to not be a target. Don't give them a reason to even consider that there is something in the car. Keep everything clean, and dont make it look like you're hiding anything. My friend had his window smashed out for a pack of cigarettes once.
I didn't do anything because this was a very tall bloke, and was probably carrying a knife. I didn't call the police either, since, this being East London, he was no doubt part of a gang and knowing my luck I'd walk into him the following week.
I'm admittedly unfamiliar with London and it's culture but this irks the hell out of me. Maybe it's just the way of life there but here's a relevant movie quote:
"And I am reminded, on this holy day, of the sad story of Kitty Genovese. As you all may remember, a long time ago, almost thirty years ago, this poor soul cried out for help time and time again, but no person answered her calls. Though many saw, no one so much as called the police. They all just watched as Kitty was being stabbed to death in broad daylight. They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."