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I've encountered this first-hand a lot. Police are too busy with other larger crimes to work on stolen computer cases. Here's what to do to protect against this

by 16s 15y ago

I've encountered this first-hand a lot. Police are too busy with other larger crimes to work on stolen computer cases. Here's what to do to protect against this: 1. Buy or setup a good, reliable file backup service. (daily rsyncs) 2. Use full disk encryption on the laptop hard drive. 3. Buy an insurance policy. This way, you keep your documents, your privacy and get a replacement laptop when it becomes lost, stolen or damaged.

pbhjpbhj 15y ago
>Police are too busy with other larger crimes to work on stolen computer cases. // Do you think this computes (oh, no pun intended). Don't petty thiefs repeatedly steal, don't they steal higher ticket items, doesn't capturing criminals act as any disincentive to continued crime. Is the criminal justice/rehabilitation system so broken that there is really no point in catching known criminals??
geebee 15y ago
Great suggestions. For developers, I think there are a few additional things to consider. While I completely agree that a file service backup and encryption are a good idea, I think it's important for developers to be able to recover quickly even without these things. 1. Yes, use backup, but also use version control. Keep your commits sufficiently up to date that you will able to get back to work quickly with a fresh new computer. Consider it a bad sign if you have to get your new computer restored to exactly the same state as your old computer to resume developing. 2. Encrypt, but just don't keep highly sensitive files on a laptop. I read that 1 in 10 laptop are stolen, and keep in mind that many aren't stolen because they never leave someone's apartment. If you travel around with your laptop, you're in a higher risk group. Use dummy data and dummy databases. Don't store external passwords to real systems on your laptop. Consider it a bad sign if you can't develop to a local database populated with inconsequential data. 3. Definitely buy the insurance policy, if you'd have trouble coming up with the money for a replacement. But they key here is to make sure that it's just money we're talking about. Try to set up your development environment such that the cost to you of a stolen laptop is the replacement cost of the laptop. I'm a little worried this comes off as overly judgemental, so I just want to be clear that I understand this may not all be within the control of the developer. However, I think that an IT setup that requires people to carry highly sensitive information or passwords on portable devices that are frequently and easily stolen is a sign of a badly broken system, even with encryption.
- oconnore 15y ago
  Re 2: Why not? If your disk is encrypted, anyone stealing it might as well not have any files at all.
  - geebee 15y ago
    Fair enough. If you're vigilant about it, this is safe. I guess my only worry would be that the laptop is swiped while open, but i'd admit this is an unlikely scenario. As a development practice, it's good to be able to build up a dummy db, but yeah, security isn't the big win here.

by 16s 15y ago

pbhjpbhj 15y ago

>Police are too busy with other larger crimes to work on stolen computer cases. // Do you think this computes (oh, no pun intended). Don't petty thiefs repeatedly steal, don't they steal higher ticket items, doesn't capturing criminals act as any disincentive to continued crime. Is the criminal justice/rehabilitation system so broken that there is really no point in catching known criminals??

geebee 15y ago

Great suggestions. For developers, I think there are a few additional things to consider. While I completely agree that a file service backup and encryption are a good idea, I think it's important for developers to be able to recover quickly even without these things. 1. Yes, use backup, but also use version control. Keep your commits sufficiently up to date that you will able to get back to work quickly with a fresh new computer. Consider it a bad sign if you have to get your new computer restored to exactly the same state as your old computer to resume developing. 2. Encrypt, but just don't keep highly sensitive files on a laptop. I read that 1 in 10 laptop are stolen, and keep in mind that many aren't stolen because they never leave someone's apartment. If you travel around with your laptop, you're in a higher risk group. Use dummy data and dummy databases. Don't store external passwords to real systems on your laptop. Consider it a bad sign if you can't develop to a local database populated with inconsequential data. 3. Definitely buy the insurance policy, if you'd have trouble coming up with the money for a replacement. But they key here is to make sure that it's just money we're talking about. Try to set up your development environment such that the cost to you of a stolen laptop is the replacement cost of the laptop. I'm a little worried this comes off as overly judgemental, so I just want to be clear that I understand this may not all be within the control of the developer. However, I think that an IT setup that requires people to carry highly sensitive information or passwords on portable devices that are frequently and easily stolen is a sign of a badly broken system, even with encryption.

oconnore 15y ago
Re 2: Why not? If your disk is encrypted, anyone stealing it might as well not have any files at all.
- geebee 15y ago
  Fair enough. If you're vigilant about it, this is safe. I guess my only worry would be that the laptop is swiped while open, but i'd admit this is an unlikely scenario. As a development practice, it's good to be able to build up a dummy db, but yeah, security isn't the big win here.