Picture this, it's finals week and you are in the midst of your second
straight all-nighter in the library studying for your last two finals.
As your eyes struggle to stay open, you decide to leave your desk up in
the library stacks and go across the street to the local 24-hour café to
grab another coffee.
After a double shot latte and a short
conversation with your friends you venture back to your desk in the
corner of the stacks to discover your laptop missing. You're now
regretting the decision to leave your books, notes and laptop out at
that great spot in the stacks.
You ask around to see if anyone
saw what happened, but everybody was too focused on their studies to
notice someone stealing a laptop. You run to the front of the library,
but all you see are the same mass of students cramming.
A
terrible epiphany dawns upon you and you realize that your laptop is
gone! Not only are all of your school materials gone, but all of your
personal files on the computer are now in the hands of someone else.
University Laptop Theft Trend
Computer
and data security has been a serious issue on college campuses due to
the size and, technology of college networks and the increasing
portability of student computers and other school materials. According
to MSNBC, "Universities have become attractive targets for hackers who
are taking advantage of the openness of the schools' networks, their
decentralized security and the personal information they keep on
millions of young adults." (1)
More students than ever are
becoming portable by bringing their laptops to class and the library to
study outside of their rooms, especially with the increase in wireless
technology all across campuses.
Students with laptops across
campuses are walking liabilities with the data stored on those
computers. No space is safe, even within minutes after leaving a laptop
in a shared environment, such as the library or common room.
In
December 2006, two University of Alaska Fairbanks basketball players
were convicted of stealing laptops from campus apartments. Laptop
thieves can sell not just your laptop, but also the data they find on
your machine as well.
What Does the Typical Student keep on their Laptop?
Laptops
have become such a burden for students because of the magnitude of
personal information that is stored on them. With the amount of
information and the sensitivity of documents compiled on these machines,
a lost laptop is even more dangerous than losing your wallet.
The
majority of documents stored on a laptop are school files such as class
notes, essays and class assignments. A thief could take these documents
and plagiarize work for themselves, or sell the work to other students.
Other
students choose to store passwords on the hard drive or on the web
browser. Since most web browsers allow users to store passwords and just
click "login" at most sites, most college students just simply choose
the lazy option. They save all of their passwords in the browser without
ever clearing them. Once the laptop is out of your hands; thieves can
login to online accounts like email, blogs, favorite shopping sites or
online banking without even having to crack your passwords.
The
last batch of files that could be accessed on a stolen laptop are
personal files such as journals, photos, and music. Private documents
such as journals and photos are troublesome to lose not only because of
your personal attachment to them but also because they could even be
used for something as horrific as blackmail.
No matter what type
of file it may be, if a hacker gets full access to your laptop it could
be serious to you on many levels. You not only have to replace the
stolen machine, but depending on the data saved on it, you may be faced
with years of credit monitoring and worrying about identity theft.
How Can You Protect your Laptop?
Laptop
theft is at its prime right now on campuses across North America.
Colleges aren't able to police every WiFi spot on campus, so students
need to be proactive. Here are some tips to help secure your laptop and
data as you progress through your collegiate years
Never
leave your laptop out of your sight if you are outside of your room,
house or apartment. While this is a heavy burden for students who take
their laptops all around campus, it is still the absolute best option.
If you bring your laptop to the library, bring a friend and have him/her
look it over while you step away to use the restroom or grab a snack.
Consider engraving your name on the back side of your laptop next to
the battery. Engraving your name will do little to avoid your computer
being taken, but it will help substantially in getting your computer
back.
Install remote laptop security (RLS) for your laptop, RLS
allows a user to access his/her laptop remotely if the computer is
stolen and access/delete all important files before the thief has the
chance to access them. This gives you the chance to remotely access your
protected files and deny access to the laptop thief.
Students
have begun relying on their laptops for nearly everything surrounding
their school lives. Protecting their laptops has become absolutely
imperative. Although laptop theft will never be stamped out, students
have a number of solutions available to them. By taking some simple
precautions, they can ensure that their next trip to the library with
their laptop is not their last.
dell inspiron i17rn 4235bk 17 inch laptop diamond black, dell inspiron i15rn 4706bk 15 inch laptop diamond black, lenovo g570 4334ddu 15 6 inch laptop black, hp
probook 4530s 15 6 notebook 2 30 ghz intel core i3 2350m 4 gb ram 500
gb hard drive dvd rw supermulti drive windows 7 home premium 64 bit, acer aspire as7739z 4804 17 3 inch laptop black, sony vaio f2 series vpcf234fxb 16 4 inch laptop matte black, acer aspire as5755 6699 15 6 inch laptop glossy black, msi computer g series gt70 0nc 008us 17 3 inch laptop black, toshiba satellite p755 s5196 15 6 inch laptop greyblack, apple
ibook laptop g4 ibook 1 33ghz processor 1gb 40gb 12 1 1024x768 display
combo drive wifi 56k modem 10100 ethernet bluetooth os x 10 5 installed
refurbished, sony vaio se1 series vpcse13fxb 15 5 inch laptop jet black, acer aspire as5755 6647 15 6 inch laptop black, dell inspiron i14z 1424bk 14 inch laptop diamond black, apple macbook mc516lla 13 3 inch laptop old version, toshiba qosmio x775 3dv80 17 3 inch 3d gaming laptop fusion x2 finish in red horizon, asus zenbook ux21e dh71 11 6 inch thin and light ultrabook silver aluminum, sony vaio eg2 series vpceg21fxb 14 inch laptop charcoal black, asus u31sd ah31 13 3 inch ultra portable laptop black, acer aspire timelinex as4830tg 6808 14 inch laptop cobalt blue, alienware am14x 6667bk 14 inch laptop stealth black
No comments:
Post a Comment