PC Hardware Theft - Basic Classes

In this lesson you will learn:

Introduction to Hardware Theft

Regardless of the best firewalls, encryption and data storage practices, the theft of the hardware could mean the end of business or at least the inconvenience of losing important data and personal information. The purpose of this class is to help to make sure it doesn't happen to you!

In this class we will study physical theft - the theft of the hardware.

Hardware theft

One of the biggest fears I used to have was waking up one day and finding my computer gone! If fact, theft was one of the main reasons for my distrust of computers and has made me hesitant to ever use them. Even with all the modern technology and cool software available, the idea that someone can just walk off with core pieces of my life and work is less than thrilling. And then one day it happened. I lost all the documents I'd written, my school records, all the family pictures, the information I kept on purchases and even my banking / checkbook information.

But the worst part happened about a week later after realizing the hidden stuff that was taken; the history of what banking transactions happened, the information on the forms that were filled out, the addresses and social security numbers, the passwords and all those expensive programs and music... all gone.

In the last lesson we covered the different kinds of theft and focused on Identity theft. This class will study the theft of the hardware. The idea that your computer is safe at home or business has proven to be fatal time and again. In the case of small business, the loss of the computer can mean the end of the business as you know it. The purpose of this class is to help to make sure it doesn't happen to you!

Recognizing Hardware theft

If your laptop were to simply disappear today, how much could you really remember of what was on it and what the most important data contained? For you personally, if there was confidential information, could you recall what it was? How about on a company level? Does your company or home have a person delegated to be responsible for some type of security strategy? Would your small company invest in training for employee awareness or create a security position, whether as a Chief Security Officer or IT person? If not, how much less importance do you think that the average a home owner would place on it?

It does not matter if you have firewall, encryption, hacker proof security or any other software strategies. The theft of your hardware could be the end of your business. So time matters. When some piece of equipment is missing, every second counts.

Do you think that you have done absolutely everything possible to prevent the loss or theft? there are times when losses will happen in spite of the most preventative action on your part. If someone has specifically targeted your machines, there is consolation in knowing that you did everything right and tried your best to prevent the loss. On the other hand, if there are no methods in place to prevent theft and equipment is unsecured and placed in easy to access, isolated areas, it is more difficult to explain in police reports or insurance claims. An example would be that if your favorite watch was left in a public area and it is gone two minutes later, it would mean that the thief was an opportunist and you happened to be the opportunity. From the point of view of the authorities, opportunistic thefts like the example above are the majority of the hardware crimes. It is very difficult to plan for the schemed, targeted hit, but opportunities for quick snatches can certainly be minimized with a few simple tricks of the trade. Insurance companies and police are more responsive to the individuals or companies that have loss prevention policies in place that prove to keep their losses to a minimum.

Some of the most obvious reasons for theft would be:

Preventing Hardware theft

There are several approaches in prevention, and the best is either a combination of them, or all of them. If you are doing less than three of these, you may eventually have an opportunist theft.

NOTE: Recording the serial numbers of each piece of equipment can be time consuming, so get into the habit of recording them when acquiring each new piece.