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Ask Slashdot: How Do You Prepare For The Theft Of Your PC?
A security-conscious Slashdot reader has theft insurance -- but worries whether it covers PC theft. And besides the hassles of recreating every customization after restoring from backups, there's also the issue of keeping personal data private.
I currently keep important information on a hidden, encrypted partition so an ordinary thief won't get much off of it, but that is about the extent of my preparation... What would you do? Some sort of beacon to let you know where your stuff is? Remote wipe? Online backup?
There's a couple of issues here -- including privacy, data recovery, deterrence, compensation -- each leading to different ways to answer the question: what can you actually do to prepare for the possibility? So use the comments to share your own experiences. How have you prepared for the theft of your PC?
There's a couple of issues here -- including privacy, data recovery, deterrence, compensation -- each leading to different ways to answer the question: what can you actually do to prepare for the possibility? So use the comments to share your own experiences. How have you prepared for the theft of your PC?
Most (almost all burglars / robbers) don't care about the contents of your machine, only what they can sell it for. And they certainly aren't going to be capable crackers.
Have a password to make turning it on a dead end run disc image backups as your best way of storing all your data and settings, if you can replace with similar out identical h/w you only have to restore and away you go.
Encryption is all you need, stop worrying! Unless your "thief" is the FBI.
First, the cost of repairs after a break-in will far exceed the value of your PC. And in addition, the increased insurance premiums will probably dwarf the repair costs, too.
Most burglaries are drugs-related. All the thief wants is to get in, grab enough to pay for their next fix and run away. All this stuff about organised robberies, knowing what to look for, recognising a pearl in the pigsh... , thefts to facilitate hacking - that only happens in bad movies.
There is not a housebreaker in the world who has any technical knowledge. All they will see is a PC-shaped box. And being a PC, it's resale value is negligible. it probably isn't even worth carrying to their car. I would suggest buying a broken Macbook or iPhone as a decoy and leaving that as a "sacrifice". Being instantly recognisable and easily portable, that would be stolen in preference to what you actually value.
If you are still worried that a thief will steal all your little secrets, then the simple solution is to run Linux. Anyone in the thief's circle will not recognise that as being Windows and they will therefore toss the PC at the earliest opportunity.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Material loss: Insurance (read the small print and make sure you get a policy that covers it).
Privacy loss: Encrypt the disk. Commercial and open source full disk encryption software is easily available.
Data loss: Backups. Plenty of affordable online backup/storage solutions are available, some specialising in specifically in backups (Backblaze, Crashplan), others that are more generic (Amazon Drive, Google Drive).
Interesting how many people are saying encryption, encryption, encryption. That's not really going to help if they steal the only (encrypted) copy of your data. Backups are also a pain because you still need to restore everything, and unless you're restoring to exactly identical hardware you'll need to reinstall your OS and then by extension any apps on it.
My anti-theft measure is a hardened steel cable through a metal plate on my PC and then the metal frame of the desk it's at. Try stealing that.
Anyone with a dremel can steal it in 1 minute.
The question is not how to prevent theft, but how do you prepare for it.
1. Backup
2. Enough money to buy a new one
3. Encryption
My anti-theft measure is a hardened steel cable
Unless you're talking about something like the support cables for the Golden Gate Bridge, I've never seen a cable that couldn't be defeated by a decent pair of bolt cutters.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I forgot to mention the second thing to do with PCs, that I currently don't do.
Buy a cheap smart cellphone, with bare minimum service. Wire the usb charger to your computer. Mute the phone. And that's it! You have a cheap lo-jack system. It charges when the computer is on, it has 2 days battery life when the computer is off. Install a program that feeds you GPS coordinates if you send it a text. (There are a couple apps that do this.) Give that number/commands to the cops when you report your stuff stolen. $50/year security.
Don't want to die? Don't steal.
Pretty simple, really.