Simplify your laptop buying
Community Newsletter: Q&A: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have?
- 8/23/07 4:58 PM
stolen laptops from hotel room
by kadams63 - 8/3/07 9:07 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
contact the hotel as they may have security cameras in the hallways...if no positive resolutions are forthcoming, let them know you will be contacting the local media...but why would you want them reviewing your complaint?? Also, your homeowners insurance may honor a claim.
Stolen Laptop
by JohnKZ - 8/3/07 9:30 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't know what the legal ramifications are regarding the hotel's liability; best to consult with an attorney on that. Concerning your information stored on there, you're "pwned" as they say. Anyone that has physical access to your computer owns it. If you encrypted everything on the hard drive they might consider it more trouble that it's worth to crack it but it can still be done; just takes time. I suggest you contact your banks and other financial institutions immediately, as well as all credit card companies you do business with. You are right to be very concerned.
As for future security precautions, the first is not to lose your laptop. That's not a facetious statement; I'll repeat : if someone has physical custody of your hard drive, they have everything on it. Sensitive information should be encrypted to at least a 128 bit standard. I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you're able to ward off or weather the potential consequences. Best of luck to you.
Computer come, Computer gone
by centaur101 - 8/3/07 10:01 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Well... I don't see any reason why the hotel have to be responsible for the lost/stolen computer unless the person who is occupying the room does not take the time to lock-up the room, or put the item(s)that one considered very dear to them in a place that would be safe like a hotel safe. Which they should have one since many costumers would have some-thing very valiable to them be their when it's time to checkout.
As for the important things on your laptop, one should have a password to open a program(s), that the owner should know easily and noone has a clue what it is. That way your secret is your secret.
If you still not yet satisfied, most computer seller like Dell has a "LoJack" type system for laptops. Maybe a laptop with the fingerprint ID security?
no worries
by pvotlucka - 8/3/07 10:21 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
About the identity theft: Notify credit card and bank companies about this situation. You can increase the security with them especially by changing passwords and mother's maiden name security word ect.
About liability of hotel: You need to file a police report. The police may do an investigation. That might include getting security camera tape and questioning staff. Do speak to the hotel manager about this incident. You need to ask them what their position is on liability in this particular case. The hotel is not liable for stolen property unless they had some sort of negligence that led to the robbery which you would have to prove (in general). If you had such evidence you could sue them in small claims court to get money back.
Good hotels do not like this situation happening to customers. They may compensate you in other ways in the way of service or upgraded stay.
If you have American Express Card - your in luck. Call them and give them police report. They may cover the damages by there free theft coverage.
If you did recover monies for your laptops, it would be limited to the deprecated value at time of theft in our current market.
Passwords, passwords, passwords
by sandeep108 - 8/3/07 10:26 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
In case of windows, what one must do is:
1. Set a bios password
2. Set password for your user account
3. Set a password for the default 'administrator' account (windows creates this by default without you realising it and is a very big security hole for anyone who gets physical access to the box/top). If this is not done, a bios password can be reset with jumpers and the administrative a/c used to obtain 'ownership' of any folder, even if you have set a password for your a/c.
4. Encrypt sensitive folders. This is essential as otherwise any linux live CD can read any windows files in any account.
On a regular basis, otherwise it is a better practice to run as a limited user. Even if something gets past firewall/anti-virus, it usually will not be able to install/damage the current installation.
One does wish that windows had much better security by default (like some other OSs) than leave such gaping holes in a normal installation.
You laptop woes got me thinking...........
by morphonius821 - 8/3/07 10:41 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Wouldn't it be great if the actual software driver for your harddrive itself was incripted.... !!!!
And in such a way that the actual data would be stored encripted....and would not be able to be read by anyone without the key!
This way all the data on your harddrive would be useless with-out your password.... and your password would actually mean something...
I.E. what good is a windows password when someone can physically remove the drive itself and just plug it into a different machine ETC.... and have not problems what-ever accessing the file system.
The answer may be incription on a hardware level.....
But this would also mean that if you lost your password... you really would be in-trouble as your data would be locked....
Just a thought.....
I bit late for you thought...... hang in there.....
Simple: Buy a Mac
by vdblu - 8/3/07 10:57 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'm not kidding.
What's great about Macs is that they have a built in feature called FileVault where your Home folder is encrypted and decrypted on the fly. You would log on as you normally would and all your files are decrypted with you log on password. When you shutdown your computer, all you files are then encrypted. No one can access you files unless they have the account password or Master password. Another good thing is that when you put your Mac to sleep, you can set it up so that every time you wake it up, it asks for your password.
I actually am travelling in two days and whenever I travel, I always turn FileVault on. Like you, I have photos, bank information, and other personal stuff on my hard drive. I don't want other people to have access to that if my laptop is stolen.
If you really want to stick with Windows, there are many programs out there that does what FileVault does. One of the best ones is TrueCrypt. Just Google it.
As for the hotel being responsible. If I remember correctly, all hotels now have those door cards instead of actual keys. If this is the case for your hotel, then that means the theft was an inside job. I would put pressure on the hotel. That letter you have is a good start. Litigation usually gets their attention as well.
solid security measures for personal laptop files
by Dynochem - 8/3/07 11:02 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Before travelling anywhere outside your home with your laptop, do two things.
1. Run the freeware program CCLEANER to erase all your internet tracks and file history.
2. Using a good zip utility e.g. Winrar, make a rar file of your entire My Documents folder. Encrypt the files, and password protect the rar file. Check the archive is OK by using the TEST function within Winrar.
Then delete your entire My Documents folder using the secure delete function in CCLEANER.
You are now travelling with all your files secured in a single encrypted, password protected rar file. You can extract them as needed, and zip them up again when not in use.
NOTE: For real security use passwords of at least 8 characters in length. Do not use words of any language as passwords, it is better to choose a random combination of characters and digits. Note that passwords are case sensitive. Remember that if you lose your password, you will be unable to retrieve the encrypted files, not even the WinRAR author is able to extract encrypted files.
It's a sad state of affairs when we have to go to these lengths to keep our files from prying eyes, but when you consider the lengths people go to in order to steal your equipment with irreplacable photos and documents, its well worth it.
Hope this helps.
Loss of data from Laptop
by RunRagged2 - 8/3/07 11:06 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The only certain way not to loose data from a laptop is not to have the data there in the first place.
For such data, I suggest having your data at home on a real PC, acting as a 'server'.
You can use any number of products to connect to the PC (via the internet) so that only the visuals of the screen appear on your laptop.
Typically these products use rdp, vnc or ica connections to the 'server'.
Indeed with such an arrangement, you can use a 'thin client' instead of a full blown laptop.
BTW, it is always a good idea to make use of the room safe for your laptop. Some US hotels even have sockets to charge them in the safe.
Unfortunately, the UK is somewhat behind when it comes to such facilities - try finding a hotel in the UK that has decent broadband in the room that you don't have to pay extra for.
Loss of goods
by JonJontheMighty - 8/3/07 11:12 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Seems to me that it may come under "duty of care"? Sue the bludgers
HD encryption + frequent Backups and HD images
by artek-studio - 8/3/07 11:47 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First of all I'm so sorry for your massive loss, second always backup, frequent backups would at least reduce the information lost on this cases.
There are so many Backup softwares, some free other with charge, Windows even comes with a backup software integrated; but always backup, you would only apreciate your info when you loose it.
Try to do an scheduled backup, best if done on an external hard drive that you kept secured on your house or office.
Syncronization is too an option, there are so many syncronization softwares or you can depend on your corporate server or a home server to have i.e. "my documents" synced on more than one fisical computer.
For securing the information that your computer holds in case of loss is encrypting the hole HD, there are specialized programs which run even before Windows boots, so you would be prompted for a user/password to be able to decrypt/encrypt on realtime so that windows can boot.
In case that you loose your computer at least you would assure that no one has access to your info.
Some computers like Lenovo come with chips dedicated to do the encryption via hardware to improve performance and enhance security. or some others even rely on biometric authentication like fingerprint instead of user password.
And something that really worked for me is Hard Disk cloning using programs like Acronis true image or Norton Ghost.
Hope that this can help.
Saludos from Mexico.
Jorge R.
Boot failure
by gokul8983 - 8/4/07 12:10 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
first u have to check that your HDD is powered properly. If its ok check that it is detected & is the boot priority is proper in CMOS setup.if yes connect the other HDD & try again if same problem is there check your data cable of HDD.If Problem is not solve chek the harddisk drive with fdisk or you can also use bootable CD. if not detected replace the HDD
hi dave
by tigr77 - 8/4/07 12:21 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
hi dave,
I'm new here and I feel concerned for your plight as I think you're in the worst situation.
WHICH EVERYONE IS VULNERABLE TO WHEN TRAVELLING WITH JUST A NOTEBOOK.
We should probably all back up the entire (virtual) hard disc to online storage and have it synchronize frequently. Still, a thief has the data on the laptop and identity theft, impersonation; is the problem.
It costs about $30 to lock your credit history and you also get reports of anyone trying to access it.
I hope other members help you out with all the questions, about the hotel liability.
One imagines they have some insurance or compensation available but you would need to report the theft to authorities and maybe hire a lawyer.
A hire car, for example, is insured if you get the notebook stolen from the locked boot of the car.
But probably, it is not covered by insurance; if it gets stolen from inside a locked but visible part of the car, such as on the car-seat.
Tech-wise cnet members will know about encrytion methods that we should probably all be using.
Well Dave, surely it's high time to build a program that is wired to send an alarm when the stolen laptop goes onlin. So a further secret pin-number must be entered after a shady or uncertain reboot.
Ideally, once anyone used the notebook online, then an automatic email alert would send you notice as to the GPS location, or connecting address, of your stolen notebook and then the program would lock down all the data irretrievably etc.
It's a useful idea and I'll ask a programmer if it can be created and get back to you if you like..
Best of luck, regards from , tigre.
Answer for Dave
by Al Clarke - 8/4/07 1:12 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First off. You were in an upscale hotel in Norfolk VA. If you paid for the hotel by Credit Card, your loss may be covered by your credit card company. It's worth a phone call. Hotels have different rules for the loss of items while on their property. You normally see signs such as "This hotel will not be held responsible for etc... As for the contents of the laptops, no clue. Having lost years of collected pictures myself recently when my computer dumped while on a business trip (long story), the only answer is to back-up photo's, financial files, and e-mails to either computer disc or cheaper than ever now, thumb drives. Once backed up, delete them from your Laptop or PC. In the future, if you're running a windows operating system, I suggest you run your systems tools frequently and click on "Accessories, then Systems Tools, then Disk Cleanup. This will rid your computer of temporary internet files, temp files etc... Good luck.
Reply to Daves Question: Stolen laptops and Hotel liability
by a.longora - 8/4/07 1:18 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Wow! Finally a question I can answer on C-Net! Well, as far as security software, I password all logins and I have seen software that will "lock" a system if a failed password is attempted too many times. Now, as far as Hotel liability is concerned, most hotels have a limited liability clause, usually under a specified dollar amount, if the hotel offers the availability of a hotel "safe" for guest use, and you have opted not to take advantage of it, than you are most likely out of luck, however, you may ask for a copy of the "registration" card you signed at check in, it is a "rental agreement" between you and the hotel, the same as a rental agreement you would sign at the beginning of an apartment rental, you, the "renter" are renting a room from the "landlord" for a specific amount of time, whether it be a day or more. On the registration agreement, there are usually "terms of contract" either printed on the reverse, or available upon request. As far as the property being able to find out who went into your room, most properties use "electronic" key cards of some type, "Safe-Loc" and "Vin-Card" systems can be accessed through the memory mechanism in the door lock itself, each hotel key that is "issued/created" has the users I.D. who created it, the time the card was created and when the remote security reader device is used on the physical hotel room door, it will tell you all of the information you need, the "door locks history" (the time the door was oped, who issued the key, or which member of staff the key was issued/assigned to use it) If you stayed at a corporate hotel, start with the loss prevention department, than move up to the General Manager, than corporate, if you do not receive adequate response or compensation, definitely post it on Trip-Advisor or some hotel web site for others too see. I have worked in Hotel Management (mid-level and upper) for many years, and unfortunately things do happen, and post's on the web are powerful, it too is unfortunate that people do not post more positive results from resorts and hotels, if you get what you wanted from the hotel, let the world know that too! Good luck!
At your service,
Anthony
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
