Campus Computing News

Laptop Security During the Holidays

By Gabe Marshall, CITC Information Security Analyst

With the holidays just around the corner, it is important that UNT faculty and staff remember to safeguard their resources. Many of you may consider taking home a laptop from work, bringing home a flash drive with UNT data, or even traveling with a personal laptop so that you can work over the holidays. Before you do, you need to be aware that if you are traveling with a university owned laptop, or carrying UNT data on any type of personal storage device, you are fully responsible for providing adequate protection to it.

The following tips will help prevent the possibility of your laptop or personal media device being stolen.

Preventing Laptop Theft

When traveling, make sure your laptop is with you everywhere you go. A laptop can be stolen within seconds of neglect. Laptop theft can occur at any time and place, most commonly at home, in cars, hotel lobbies, airports, etc.

If you happen to be flying over the holidays, be especially cautious when you are going through security checkpoints and while waiting to board your plane. Thieves often prey on people at these points. It is also recommended to bring your laptop on board instead of checking it with your luggage. If you plan on bringing your laptop home, make sure it is kept out of plain view whenever not in use. Thieves typically only steal what they can immediately see. While on the road, keep in mind that locking your laptop in your car is not a sufficient safeguard, especially when left in plain view. If for some reason you must leave your laptop in a car, make sure it is locked in the trunk.

Many new laptops may come with anti-theft devices such as bio-metric scanners, motion detection alarms, security cables, tracking software, etc. If your laptop is equipped with one of these, make sure it is in use. If your laptop does not come with any theft deterrents, you might want to consider purchasing one if approved by your network manager.

Lastly, if a theft does occur, please report it immediately to the police as well as your network manager. You should also make sure the UNT Information Security Team has been contacted as well. Immediately reporting incidents is required according to policy, and will reduce the likelihood of data loss.

Sensitive Data Protection

First and foremost it is strongly advised to not store any sensitive data on your laptop and/or handheld media device unless absolutely necessary. Examples of sensitive data may include but is not limited to files containing credit card numbers, social security numbers, employee id numbers, and EUID's. If it is imperative that you take home sensitive data containing sensitive data, you are required to properly encrypt it.

TrueCrypt, a popular free encryption application, can be used with relative ease which will provide adequate security. A simple tutorial can be found here. For more information about securing your sensitive data through encryption, read our article on UNT Data Encryption Recommendations, or contact your network manager. You can also contact the UNT Information Security Team at security@unt.edu or by dialing 565-7800.

Quick Tips

• Use any included security devices and/or features.

• Never leave usernames or passwords in your carrying case.

• Store your serial number in a safe place.

• Lock your office door.

• Keep an eye on your laptop at all times.

Laptop Theft Statistics

• Laptop thefts continue to increase yearly; over 1.5 million laptop thefts per year.

• Last year reported thefts increased by 81%. -- The Cost of Data Breach. - Ponemon Institute, LLC, 2007

• On average, a stolen laptop has been estimated to cost $1200 in hardware losses, and        around $9000 in information losses. - Safeware Insurance, 2004

• A laptop is reported stolen every 50 seconds.

• 97% of stolen computers are never recovered. - Federal Bureau of Investigation (2007)

• Laptop theft is second most common crime, just after identity theft.

• Over 70% of thefts occur in cars and coffee shops.

• Laptop theft has been attributed to 59% of computer attacks in government agencies, corporations, and universities during 2003. - Baseline, 2004

Return to top