Re: Stolen Laptops

[Felecia Vlahos <fvlahos () COX NET>]

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 7  
laptops recovered were returned to their owners because the others 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....
>
> M
>
> From: 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, MICHAEL
> Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 9:46 AM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Stolen Laptops
> We use Lojack on all of our laptops - over the past 3-4 years, we've  
> been able to recover 3 laptops.
>
> M
>
> From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv  
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Maloney, Michael
> Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:46 AM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Stolen Laptops
>
> We 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 Heimbrock
> Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 1:25 PM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: [SECURITY] Stolen Laptops
>
> Unfortunately, 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>
>
>
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