Guard that laptop data

Just about everyone has suffered the pain of losing valuable computer data and can fully
appreciate that data backup is an essential business process. Seven out of 10 Australian
organisations have had laptops stolen during the past 12 months according to AusCERT’s
2006 Australian Computer Crime & Security Survey.

And around 90% of those businesses with laptops stolen have also lost the data stored on the
laptop because they did not effectively back up their data. Offsite back up provider, Safebyte,
reports that while businesses are coming to terms with back up as a core business
requirement, there is still a long way to go in convincing computer users that data loss can
happen to them.

Laptop security measures suggested by SafeByte include:

1. Use cable locks on laptops as visual deterrents only. Most cable locks can be ripped
off the plastic exterior of a laptop with a strong tug. Cable locks are therefore simular
to ink-filled garment security tags in clothing stores: they leave a mark when removed
by force, but are ineffective at preventing many thefts.

2. Avoid leaving unsecured notebooks unattended. Lock them in cupboards, notebook

carts or other secure facilities when not in use. If they must be left in a vehicle, they
should be covered up or locked in the boot.

3. Keep laptops inconspicuous. Carry them in inconspicuous carry cases, such as

backpacks or tote bags, instead of obvious laptop bags.

4. Back up valuable data off-site on a scheduled basis. Back up data frequently to

minimise the risk to the organisation in the event of loss. Do not store your backups
on-site - it is not secure or a reliable means of backup and recovery.

5. Create a contingency plan. Identify possible damage should a breach in security

occur; also consider how your customers would be served in the event of catastrophe.
Contingency plans for security should be integrated with the organisation’s overall
disaster recovery plans.

The risk to corporate data is greatly increased on the road. Busy executives moving between
meetings can quite easily leave a laptop unattended on a train, in a taxi, at an airport or in a
hotel lobby. Safebyte’s Laptop Detective provides an option to automate the entire
backup process and make sure that data is retrievable should a loss occur. A phone call to the
command centre when the theft is discovered will send a kill signal to the laptop destroying
all personal data from it when the laptop is next connected to the internet. It will also take a
photo of the thief and track its location Visit www.safebyte.com.au for more information on
how you can automate your backup process. 

Another useful piece of software is safesecuritypro this software effectively hides all
personal data so that it is completely hidden even if show all files and folders is turned on or
the drive is removed from the laptop and placed into a different PC. Visit
www.safesecuritypro.com for more information on how to safely secure your laptop.

If you don’t think this will ever happen to you below are just a few Newspaper articles I
found in a five minute search on the internet
Increase in Stolen Laptops Endangers Data Security
By ANDREA L. FOSTER July 4 2008

“Patrick A. Grant was stolen in April. A thief walked away with a laptop containing the
University of Virginia biochemist's name and Social Security number, as well as those of
more than 7,000 other professors, staff members, and students. The machine belonged to a
university employee who had taken it off campus — and then it was simply taken.

The next month, Mr. Grant discovered that criminals had amassed at least $22,000 in debt
under his name.”

This type of computer theft is on the increase Symantic a well known Computer software
company estimates that some-ones identity is stolen every 3 seconds.

Major College Software Vendor Puts Students at Many

Campuses at Risk of Identity Theft
By Andrea L. Foster April 24, 2008

At least 18 colleges are scrambling to inform tens of thousands of students they are at risk of
having their identities stolen after SunGard, a leading software vendor, reported that a
laptop owned by one of its consultants was stolen.

The complete extent of the problem is still unknown, though many of the campuses that have
been identified are in Connecticut and New York. The laptop contained students' names and
Social Security numbers. In some cases, the exposed data also included financial aid
information, e-mail addresses, birth dates, and driver-identification numbers.

Now college officials are accusing SunGard of waiting too long—about one month—to inform
them of the security breach. The Connecticut attorney general has opened an inquiry into the
incident. And there are widespread concerns that SunGard may not be adequately protecting
college data.

SunGard Higher Education, the division of the company that employed the consultant, said
it found out on March 13 that the laptop was stolen. Colleges said they weren't told of the
theft until the second week of April. A spokeswoman for the company, Laura Kvinge, said
that was not an undue delay, noting that the company needed to analyze backup data to
determine the affected colleges before alerting them.

Stanford Laptop Theft Threatens Employees' Personal

Data
By allen foster

Stanford University reported last week that a university laptop that contained personal data
on as many as 72,000 current and former employees was stolen. The university did not
reveal the kinds of personal information in the machine. But it is advising current and
former employees to take steps to safeguard their identities, including getting a free credit
report.

19/01/2008
New privacy breach as Royal Navy laptop stolen
11:41:11 
The personal details of more than 600,000 people have vanished in Britain after a Royal
Navy officer had his laptop computer stolen.

The information that is potentially in criminal hands includes social security and medical
numbers, passport and driving licence details and in some cases full information on bank
accounts.

The loss is being treated with what the ministry calls the "utmost seriousness," and letters
are being written to the people affected. It is the latest in a series of such security losses.

Over the past two months, the records of 25 million people claiming child benefits and three
million learner drivers have been lost by Government departments.

Spokesman for the Opposition, Liam Fox, spoke of his concern at such failings.

"It's just been too easy for data to go missing recently and we do need to look at the general
issue of how we protect the details of individuals," he said. 

"Obviously, in terms of the armed forces, there is perhaps an added element of security."

NBA star's private pics stolen

A LAPTOP containing "a variety of private images'' of NBA star Baron Davis has
been stolen - and his lawyers are threatening legal action if the material is
published.

Counsel for the the Los Angeles Clippers guard, a two-time All-Star and novice film
producer, sent US news outlets a letter threatening legal action over the personal photos,
videos, and audio stored on the computer.

Davis's counsel reported that the laptop theft has been reported to police, who are
"investigating the matter''.

The photos and videos "depict, among other things, a variety of private images of our client,
his associates and his colleagues,'' wrote lawyer William J Briggs, II.

The 30-year-old Davis, who earns about $US12 million annually, recently produced Crips
and Bloods, a documentary about America's most notorious street gangs.

ADF investigates computer theft

The Australian defence department has launched an investigation into the theft of a
departmental notebook computer and other valuables from the Bangkok hotel room of an
Australian naval officer.
The Australian, named in an official Thai police report as Peter de Maskens, a Lieutenant
Commander in the Royal Australian Navy, was staying at the five-star Banyan Tree Hotel in
central Bangkok.
The computer and several other items allegedly were stolen last weekend from his room by a
woman, believed to Thai, whom he had met at a nearby entertainment district.
An official Thai police report into the incident, seen by AAP, said de Maskens had left the
hotel late Friday evening or early Saturday morning and gone to the entertainment and red
light district of Nana Plaza in Sukhumvit Road.
The report, filed at 11.20am on Saturday, July 4 (local time), said de Maskens had returned
to the hotel at 2.42am accompanied by a female friend. It said he awoke at 7am to find
several items had been stolen.
The police report listed the items as a notebook computer, a mobile telephone, two bags, an
IPOD NANO, his passport, plus Visa and Diners Club credit cards.
A police report was necessary to enable de Maskens to obtain at short notice Australian
identification documents enabling him to travel.
A manager at the Banyan Tree hotel said suites had in-room safes, plus there was a central
safe for larger items. The hotel also had closed circuit TV throughout the premises.
"Safety for the guests and staff was very important," the manager said.
Australian officials are said to have requested copies of the hotel's CCTV tapes available at
the time of the theft.
An Australian defence ministry spokesman, in an email, noted the "incident was under
investigation" but said "no further details" were available.
The Defence Ministry refused to release or confirm "any personal details" for "privacy
reasons", but said "the lieutenant commander has received the assistance of the Australian
Embassy in Bangkok and the Thai authorities".
The defence spokesman said the incident occurred on the evening of July 3.
He played down concerns over a possible security breach regarding any information on the
laptop.
"The laptop contained only the lowest classification and was fitted with appropriate security
software to deny access to any information on the computer," the spokesman said.
The incident comes as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) warns
Australian travellers of possible "food and drink spiking, assault and robbery against
foreigners" in Thailand.
"Petty crime is common. Money and passports have been stolen from rooms," the DFAT
notice says.
Visiting Australia officials have been warned against going to the Nana Plaza red light district
because of fears of potential fire hazards with inadequate safety measures or exits.
In January this year, more than 60 people died and many more were injured when a fire
broke out at a central Bangkok pub and nightclub.
De Maskens, who received the Order of Australia medal this year, is an expert in the field of
maritime communications and information systems.
Laptop with 800,000 job seekers' data stolen

Sept 28 Clothing retailer Gap Inc (GPS.N) said on Friday that a laptop computer containing
personal information for about 800,000 job applicants was stolen from a vendor it used to
manage that data.
An investigation is under way.
The stolen laptop contained personal information for people who applied for store positions
with the company's Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap and Outlet stores in the United States,
Puerto Rico and Canada between July 2006 and June 2007.
Gap said the applicants' Social Security numbers were included in the stolen information and
that it is offering them a year of free credit monitoring services with fraud resolution
assistance. Canadian applicants' Social Insurance Numbers were not stolen, Gap said.
The information on the laptop was not encrypted, a fact Gap said is contrary to its agreement
with the vendor. But Gap added that it has no reason to believe that the data on the
computer was the target of theft or that the personal information has been accessed or used
improperly.
"We're reviewing the facts and circumstances that led to this incident closely, and will take
appropriate steps to help prevent something like this from happening again," said Chief
Executive Glenn Murphy.
The company uses more than one vendor to manage its job applicant data, so this does not
affect everyone who applied during that period, the company said.

$20,000 reward for stolen memories

A mother-of-five from Sydney's North Shore is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who
can locate her laptop, which was stolen from her house during a break-in this month.

Megan Bowen's Acer Travelmate TM5625WSMi laptop was stolen as well as a video
camcorder, GPS navigation system, hundreds of dollars in cash and all of her identification,
but retrieving the laptop is her only priority.

"It's not the material things, it's the memories," she said. "The reason we want the computer
so badly is because my daughter, my youngest daughter, has a hole in her heart, and on that
is every one of her videos [and] photos of all our children."

Mrs Bowen has five children - aged four, eight, 13, 17 and 16 months - but did not want to
give their names or provide a photograph for this story, because of safety concerns.

She said her husband had made back-ups of the computer files but they were left in the
laptop bag, which was also stolen.

"How are we ever going to get photos of our kids back, our wedding back, all that kind of
stuff?" she asked.

Mrs Bowen approached the media after exhausting all other avenues, including taking out
an ad in The Sydney Morning Herald, plastering posters around the North Shore,
contacting pawnbrokers and even appealing to vendors at the North Rocks Computer
Market.
 Detective Inspector Mick Banfield, crime manager at Ku-ring-gai Local Area Command,
confirmed Mrs Bowen's house had been robbed on August 22, just days after her purse was
stolen from a Woolworths supermarket in Hornsby.

"I was coming up through the dairy isle, there's yoghurt all over the floor, people were sort
of jumping out of the way pushing and shoving, and at that time someone's grabbed my
purse," Mrs Bowen said.

To make matters worse, the items stolen from her house might be uninsured as her
insurance payment couldn't be processed because she cancelled her credit cards when her
purse was stolen.

She said other residents in her area had told her their houses and cars were also broken
into.

"We live in Wahroonga because it's supposed to be one of the safest suburbs. We don't even
have a police station - and look at the crime wave there was in one street," she said.

Detective Inspector Banfield confirmed there had been an increase in break and enters and
stealing from motor vehicle in Wahroonga over the past seven to 10 days.

"Police cannot confirm, however believe, the majority if not all of these crimes have been
committed by the same offender/s," he said in an email.

"Police are investigating all these matters and have suspects, however these investigations
are ongoing at this stage."

Your computer security is your responsibility don’t let this

happen to you!
Article put together by Les Courcha
Acknowledgments to
The Chronicle
Sydney Morning Herald
The Times
ABC News