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Community Newsletter: Q&A: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have?
- 8/23/07 4:58 PM
Laptop Theft in Ala Moana area in Hawaii
by randy57--2008 - 6/14/08 9:38 PM In reply to: Stolen laptops by wallyzajacSome piece of ******* hawaiian **** ripped off both my laptops. A Macbook pro 15" and Gateway CX2720. I have been all over the world and it's the first time I have had a theft but I guess the ******* piece of **** hawaiian's have nothing better to do than scope out the white man who made their island worth inhabiting. They appear to be the lowest form of **** ever. Hanging out at the beach and sucking each other off and just waiting for whitey to pull up in their Dollar rental car that had a lock clip removed from the trunk by one of their own sacks of **** to ripoff the tourist. Yeah, **** YOU HAWAII!
If you go there, leave anything of value at home. The ******* cops suck too. You can just tell they are corrupt sacks of ****. Just like the theives, you cannot tell them apart. **** YOU ALA MOANA ********!
Lock the drive
by peterCIS - 8/6/07 5:04 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
When you replace your laptops purchase ones that have hardware Full Disk Encryption (FDE). When you turn on a laptop that is equipted this way you will have no access to the hard drive at all until you type a password or use a biometric device of some type (like a finger swipe).
This is better than adding encryption to the OS since that would drain computing power, hardware encryption is built into the drive hardware. And since you have no laptop this is the perfect opertunity.
Now this is all shutting the barn door after the horses have left, if you have not done so contact the three credit reporting agencies as well as your banks.
Equifax
P.O Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-800-525-6285
Experian
P.O Box 9532
Allen, TX 75013
1-888-397-3742
TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Division
P.O Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
1-800-680-7289
yes, yes and yes.
by batman823 - 8/6/07 5:07 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes, the hotel is responsible for your stuff. With the electronic keys, they can even tell how the room was accessed. That little box records which type of key is used and when it is used. If you can provide a time-table of when you left and when you got back, plus some proof of purpose, or that you used your laptops while staying there, any of that will help. You can go to whatever place you bought the laptops and have the customer service desk swipe the credit card you would have used, they can look up your purchase history. Not all places can do this, but all the big department stores like BB can do that.
They have insurance for this kind of thing and most states require that they reimburse you for stolen merchandise.
As far as identity theft, you may want to take some precautions. If you've ever used your credit card information or if you have any account information on your laptops, there are some issues. You may want to go so far as to order new cards with new numbers and have the bank open new accounts so those numbers change too.
It's likely that most people wouldn't be able to access anything of real value on your computer, but anybody who's truly savvy will. If changing all your accounts/cards seems too big of a hassle, at least notify your bank of a fraud warning and closely monitor your financial records. More importantly, notify one of the three credit beureaus of a fraud alert. They won't freeze any of your assets, but they'll closely monitor your credit report and may require extra methods of identification to do anything that will alter your credit report.
You can access your credit report for free and securely through this web site. I highly recommend this because it doesn't take much information to get credit under somebody else's name.
If the hotel refuses payment, then you could be out of luck. Since you didn't report it at the time and have no police report to go on, they may have the right to refuse. But it's worth a shot. They could at least find out how and when your room was accessed. It's also not too late to report the laptops as stolen and go through the police protocall.
As far as the sleepless nights go, just accept the loss of the information. But if you follow the right steps and report everything you know to your bank and credit beureaus, you will not actually lose any money. If your cards are cancelled and somebody tries to use the numbers, it will help the bank and police find out who is using them and where it's being used. You can rest at ease knowing that you won't actually lose any money.
I wish the best of luck to you.
Sorry to say....
by Peter0423 - 8/6/07 6:01 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'm araid the answers to your questions are perfectly clear.
As for identity theft: I'm truly sorry to say this, but you're screwed. Immediately alert the law enforcement agencies, and any businesses or financial institutions whose personal data you had on that computer. And my sympathies.
As for future preventative measures:
(1) Set up your next laptop to require a password to log on, and set the screensaver to require the password to restore the display. Make the password secure, one that you can remember and no one else would guess.
(2) Encrypt your data. There are shareware and freeware utilities that will let you securely encrypt files, folders, even entire drive volumes.
(3) Make the computer physically secure -- don't EVER leave it where it can be stolen or tampered with. If you must, you can buy devices that will set off an alarm if the computer is physically disturbed.
(4) Maintain a secure backup of your critical information. (You do have a regular system backup, don't you?) It could help you determine what personal information is in the wind, so that you know what to keep an eye on, and change as needed.
(5) Use good anti-virus and anti-malware software -- again, this can be shareware or freeware. There are more ways to lose data than by having your computer stolen, and they're more insidious because they're seldom so easily recognized.
As for any responsibility on the part of the hotel...again, unless the hotel is feeling incredibly generous, you're screwed. Every hotel I've ever stayed in had a warning, in writing, against leaving valuables in your room, even when it's properly locked, and disclaimed any legal responsibility for lost or stolen property. They expect you either to take your valuables with you whenever you leave your room, or to deposit them in the hotel safe. They might make a gesture just to be nice -- but legally, they have NO obligation to make good your losses, unless you can make a case against them for negligence or criminal collusion.
Again, my sympathies -- and better luck in the future.
Stolen Laptop means you lose your identity!
by mayankgupta - 8/6/07 6:05 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've tried to answer your question on my blog. I hope that the community is fine with it and doesn't consider it as spamming. My intentions were to provide all sort of help and if the community managers are fine with it then I'll submit more answers like this in future :
http://tipsosaurus.com/security-tips/identity-theft-stolen-laptop-dangers/
Data storage
by dusty fog - 8/6/07 6:19 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
At home i have a central data storage that is not tempered with by anyone and which serves as a backup for the inexpendable information i have. and yes the hotel is resposible for the stolen laptops.
sorry about the laptops
by eldernorm - 8/6/07 6:48 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First, I would suggest that it is highly unlikely that you will be getting your money back. How much proof does the hotel have that you did indeed have laptops in the room??? Remember that there are many dishonest people out there.
Two, I would consider rather having the hotel check their schedule to see who was on clean up duty that day. The cleaning help have keys to all the rooms and would be my first suspects. After all, who else would know that you had a computer in there??? Did you leave the window curtains closed?? Could anyone else have seen what you had in there?
Given that there is limited access to these rooms and if the key is electronic, there should be a record of who went into the rooms and when on file with the hotel computer.
Other than that, sorry for your loss.
en
Security
by phantomsoul - 8/6/07 7:19 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Dave,
Sorry to hear about your losses; this is a rough one -- most hotels will at least try to claim non-liability for any possessions you leave in your room when you go out, but if your losses are great enough and you can document all the caution you took, perhaps you should consult an attorney, as I'm sure exceptions have been made and/or forced at times. Of course as always, if you choose to go this way, the sooner the better -- otherwise you'll have to deal with the question of hesitation.
As for your identity, now would be a good time to change all your passwords to anything that you might have had stored on that computer. Further, if you used the laptop to do things like online banking, this is pretty much the equivalent of having lost your ATM/credit card, so I would call up all your banks, credit cards, etc. and explain to them what happened -- they will probably handle it like a lost/stolen card. Also might be a good idea to change your email address as well, and actually close the old one -- so that if any tries to use it or have anything sent to it, they get an NDR (non-delivery receipt) back and know its an invalid email address.
It's a pain, I know. But the basic strategy here is to try to outdo anyone who might be trying to tap the compromised information before they do. Either way, good luck to you.
Scheduled Jobs
by cmikeOk - 8/6/07 8:54 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dave,
I have Windows XP Pro on my machine, and sometimes the scduled jobs will not run. I look at the " Last Time " that the scheduled jobs have run and its usually a week or a month behind what is should have been runing, any ideas? thanks, Mike in Indy
MIA Laptops
by Pete Dawson - 8/6/07 1:26 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
As a newbie to all this I was once advised to b/u my material. ya ya.
It wasn't until I had unwanted visitors at my house that I relized what my friend was talking about.This person got away with over 350GB's on my computor. When I b/u my files and docs.now I delete the files that I need to keep after I've copied them to disc. Keeping track of them I use Where Is It program.This way I have kept pictures,music etc...etc..in an organized fashion. It is not too much of time consumption when you figure out what you are saving & what you are preventing OTHER people from getting thier hands on.
You have a few ways to go to recover from laptop theft.
by mcbinder - 8/6/07 3:15 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You have a few things to do to recover from your laptop theft.
1) Contact the hotel and make a claim. The hotel should pay you up to the legislated liability limit in the state of Virginia. This will certainly be a very small sum, maybe $100-$500.
2) Contact your homeowners insurance company and submit a claim. This should get you money to buy new laptops. You'll probably have to add money to get good ones.
3) Since you have encrypted your sensitive data on your laptop, there should be no worries there AND since you have a full RECENT backup, all you have to do is get you new laptop, install your applications, and restore your data.
What? No encryption, no backups? Now you can worry.
If you have what I have on my main PC, it your whole financial / personal / medical dataset including: Social Security numbers - self, spouse, children, others (I do several family members taxes), bank / retirement account and access numbers, medical account numbers, medical EOB (Explanation of Benefits), to tell what medical treatment you've had, maybe even a password or two in a "reminder" file, and so on and so on...
After you have recovered, you should start doing it better.
1) Encrypt your data. I like a free program from www.truecrypt.org called TrueCrypt. You can make your whole laptop disk an encrypted volume or just encrypt a portion for the most sensitive data. Learn from the Veterans Affairs, Equifax, UC Berkeley, Ameriprise, Boeing, my former employer HP, etc. (Names are from a Google search "stolen laptop data")
2) Before you travel, back up the laptop data to a USB disk, thumb drive, DVD or home network storage and leave it at home or other safe place. I have all my data in one directory tree called "MyData" so it's easy to save. Just drag "MyData" to the backup directory and go have dinner or something. It's not trivial to make all applications store into "MyData" and move "MyDocuments" in there, but worth it. At $120 for a 500GB USB disk, it's cheap insurance.
3) Get locking cables and lock the laptops to an immovable object in the room or put them in the hotel safe. Make sure to check liability limits for the safe!
Traveling with a laptop is really convenient and I do it all the time. Just remember that the data is actually more valuable than the laptop. Just imagine the effort you are going to go through to rebuild your lost data!
Make it hard for a casual thief to take the laptop and if a pro does get it, make it really hard to get your encrypted data. If it's too hard to access, they may just skip the data and sell the hardware. Your backup will let you get back up quickly.
After you laptops are secure, you can worry about your PDA and insecure WiFi (or wired) hotel internet connections!
Good Luck,
Mike
Hmmm
by stecklerhouse - 8/7/07 10:52 AM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Maybe you should get lojack.
http://embed.grandcentral.com/webcall/f176276825241099bf01bb01f571b89b
Call me and tell me something i don't know.
Dave, I am so sorry you lost your laptops. Theft like this
by itango - 8/7/07 2:04 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
should not occur in any hotel, especially a high end one. When I travel, I make sure I have a bicycle-type cable (the kind with a thick inner wire and plastic coating over the wire)and a lock that I can attach to my computer. I then secure this to a large piece of furniture (make sure that the piece is large enough that it cannot be lifted easily and the cable slipped off - my favorite is the iron railings on the verandas in a covered balcony). This also has the added benefit that it is likely that the room cleaners wil never go out there and see the computer on the floor.
In addition, I always remove the power cord and the battery from the computer and hide them in a locked suitcase, which also has its own cable attaching it to heavy furniture. The idea is to make the computer less attractive to thieves, they will need to go through the trouble of buying a new cable and a battery.
Finally, I am set up as a user, not an administrator, and I use an encryption program and set up a password so that anyone trying to use the computer will encounter a screen demanding a password when they first turn on the computer. My password is very complicated (numbers, letters and characters) so they likely will not be able to use the computer, or crack the password. You can ask a technical friend to help you set yourself up as a user, it is not that difficult.
Hotels will tell you to check valuables at the desk, or put them in the safe, but that is not possible for computers, as I use mine for work when I travel, and mine is too large for the hotel safe. I have been traveling with a computer for 15 years, using the security measures I discussed, and have never had problems. Good luck!
Protecting data on a laptop.
by gsmollin - 8/7/07 2:49 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There is a good short answer for this problem: Use encrypted volumes. Windows XP has the ability to encrypt directories. I don't know how good the protection is, especially since it uses the same password system as the logon password, but it will be way better than nothing.
For better security, keep your sensitive data inside an encrypted volume that operates outside of Windows OS. I use TrueCrypt, a freeware program that is just great. You can choose your encryption algorithm, and create encrypted volumes that load as if though they were hard drives. You can also encrypt backups, and even data placed on a USB drive, or a DVD. Check it out, and then sleep better.
(NT) STOLEN LAPTOPS
by Jack E Linton Sr - 8/7/07 3:11 PM In reply to: My laptop was stolen, what concerns should I have? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
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