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Theft prevention is becoming increasingly important as more personal and
corporate data is being held on portable electronic devices. Such examples
are laptops, PDA's, notebooks and mobile phones.
The cost of retrieving personal data and equipment quite often exceeds the
actual value of the items themselves, as personal and corporate information
could destroy a business if sufficient backups and copies have not been
made.
There is also the issue of having easy passwords or no password at all and a
simple loss could turn into a catastrophic risk for a person or business.
There are methods and devices for prevention and we have highlighted some of
the better options. Physical protection and access is probably the
most secure option as you are reducing the risk of someone actually getting
their hands on such equipment and information. This could be in the form of
secure access areas, security boxes and cables that physically prevent
access or removal.
We all know that this is not always practical due to the fact that more
office workers and personnel require the transportation of data and
equipment between sites, offices and homes. In this situation it is
important to protect the information through security passwords,
fingerprint readers and sometimes biometric methods such as scanners and ID
cards.
If the above two methods are too expensive, not cost-effective or need to be
reinforced with additional methods then you will find physical marking
labels a good solution. These are quite often called asset tags or
labels and come in various sizes and with different types of adhesives.
These provide a visual deterrent and also provide contact details or details
of a centralised hub, where they can be returned to their rightful owner. It
is not uncommon for these tags to also let the finder know that there may be
a reward for returning the item.
If, for instance you had a password protected PC that was inaccessible how
would someone reunite it to the owner? This is the strong point for physical
marking labels. With the amount of portable electronic equipment on the rise
it's small wonder that so many lost property departments are accumulating
this equipment - and all because insufficient information is provided for
the safe return.
So next time you consider purchasing new IT and electronic equipment, please
consider the possibility that if it was to get lost or stolen, you need to
have some form if identification so that it can be returned.
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