Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: Stolen Laptops
From: Felecia Vlahos <fvlahos () COX NET>
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:12:45 -0700
Another intangible return on investment is the benefit of catching the crooks and lowering crime. We've had one Lojack recovery, and one non-Lojack in the past 5 years. About 15 laptops reported stolen during that time (for employees). The non-Lojack just happened to be the more effective as it lead to the arrest of a fencing operation. There were 7 laptops recovered as a result of the arrest, but only 1 from SDSU. We learned that the crooks turned around laptops within about 24 hours, for about $200, and they don't rebuild them (they don't care about the data or the licensed software!). Prior to catching the crooks our campus was one of their "feeding grounds" and we had 3 laptops stolen by them in two months. The case was solved because the buyer of our 3rd stolen laptop realized it was from San Diego State University and they called to ask if it was stolen. To maximize recovery and arrest operations our law enforcement encourage theft recovery software, but also stress the need to document serial numbers (and or etch/tag the equipment) for identification. Only 2 of the 7laptops recovered were returned to their owners because the other owners were
not identifiable. Like all risks, it takes a layered approach to address the problem of losing/recovering data and equipment. Data retention, theft recovery, etching, alarms, encryption, etc., will each have some effect towards protecting data, recovering equipment, and lowering crime. ROI is important to direct us on which method to use first to lower risk, but they all have value if you can afford to include them in your program. Thanks, Felecia Vlahos Information Security Officer San Diego State University On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:05:53 -0700, SCHALIP, MICHAEL <mschalip () cnm edu> wrote:
Cost of the hardware isn't the only "cost"......if one of those laptops had belonged to the right (wrong?) person - damage to reputation, damage to partners/other stakeholders. Plus - since adoption - lost/stolen laptops have SERIOUSLY declined - thus, there's a cost/risk avoidance factor....May or may not be entirely cost effective - but let's face it - policy can sometimes exist for other reasons....MFrom: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Bradley, Stephen W. Mr.Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:58 AM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Stolen Laptops So, at three laptops over say 3 years does that make a good investment?If you only have 10 laptops to begin with it probably is but if you have 5,000 I don't know.steve ________________________________From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of SCHALIP, MICHAELSent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 9:46 AM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Stolen LaptopsWe use Lojack on all of our laptops - over the past 3-4 years, we've been able to recover 3 laptops.MFrom: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Maloney, MichaelSent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:46 AM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Stolen LaptopsWe don't use Lojack on our campus laptops, but we have had dealings with them when a student connects to our wireless network with one that Lojack was activated on. First time the student disconnected and left before Lojack got in touch with the right people. Couple days later when the student returned, they were in for a big surprise.******************************************** Mike Maloney Sr. System Engineer Middlesex County College 2600 Woodbridge Avenue Edison, NJ 08818 Phone: 732-906-7754 Cell: 908-217-2086 Fax: 732-906-4266 Email: mmaloney () middlesexcc edu<mailto:mmaloney () middlesexcc edu> ********************************************From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Kimberly HeimbrockSent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 1:25 PM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: [SECURITY] Stolen LaptopsUnfortunately, laptops thefts have been significantly increasing, (usually in locked offices - after hours) and was wondering what success anyone has had using Lojack, Prey, or other tools. Any (affordable) ideas for increased physical security and software tools that have been proven to reduce thefts and trace the equipment would be appreciated. We will be communicating increased fac/staff awareness as it relates to the physical security of mobile devices, so ideas to be included with that message would be great too. Thanks in advance!Kim Heimbrock Director, IT Policy and Compliance Northern Kentucky University (859) 572-5139 heimbrockk () nku edu<mailto:heimbrockk () nku edu> -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner<http://www.mailscanner.info/>, and is believed to be clean. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner<http://www.mailscanner.info/>, and is believed to be clean. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner<http://www.mailscanner.info/>, and is believed to be clean.
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Current thread:
- Stolen Laptops Kimberly Heimbrock (Jul 27)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Joel Rosenblatt (Jul 27)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Dave Kovarik (Jul 27)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Felecia Vlahos (Jul 27)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Stolen Laptops Maloney, Michael (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops SCHALIP, MICHAEL (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Bradley, Stephen W. Mr. (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops SCHALIP, MICHAEL (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Felecia Vlahos (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Felecia Vlahos (Jul 29)
- Re: Stolen Laptops David Bowie (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Joel Rosenblatt (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops David Gillett (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops SCHALIP, MICHAEL (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Sherry Callahan (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Ben Woelk (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops SCHALIP, MICHAEL (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Ben Woelk (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Joel Rosenblatt (Jul 28)
- Re: Stolen Laptops Russell Fulton (Jul 29)