How to Protect Your Laptop from Being Lost or Stolen

As we become increasingly dependent on computers and the role these play in our daily lives, more of us are using the more mobile laptops that give us access to data and email no matter where our travels find us.

According to Current Analysis a computer research firm, laptop sales exceeded those of desktops last year for the first time ever and accounted for 54% of the $500 million computer sales market.

The more mobile laptop while convenient for the user also presents a new problem for computer users as they are frequently misplaced, lost, or stolen. One report by the Ponemon Institute indicated an 81% increase in the number of lost laptops reported by companies. Another report in PC World found that over 70,000 laptops were turned in to lost and found at La Guardia airport.

Whether misplaced, lost or stolen the loss of your personal or business computer can be devastating. This is particularly true when the computer is the only source of data that has not been backed up or when the data on the computer contains highly sensitive information.

Recently I discovered an invaluable tool that protects computer owners from laptop theft through a service called Failsafe, provided by Phoenix.com.

Phoenix has developed a tracking system which after being loaded onto your computer can be used to locate and track your computer anywhere in the world. The Failsafe system is buried deep within your computer and unknown to the computer thief monitors not only the current location of the computer, but also any activity taking place on the computer.

The Failsafe system works as follows:

After downloading the software on your computer Failsafe begins immediately tracking the location of your computer. Should your computer be misplaced, borrowed or stolen you can use the Failsafe program to locate the current location of your computer by entering your Failsafe identification through another computer. Failsafe then uses a GPS tracking system to pinpoint the location of the computer by providing specific coordinates and street address where the computer is located. The program also locates the computer on a map resembling those of Map quest, to help the owner see specifically where the coordinates and street address is found.

In instances of theft Failsafe can provide detailed information about the unauthorized user including his user name, his email address, his ISP address, his wireless location and network, INTERNET sites visited and other activity by the user on the stolen computer.

An interesting feature of Failsafe is that it makes uses of computer camera capabilities where these exist. If the stolen laptop has a built-in camera component Failsafe will take a photo of the user of the stolen computer and transmit back to the owner of the computer using Failsafe technology. In many instances in which a missing computer is reported the transmission of the current user photgraph results in the immediate identication of the unauthorized user as a fellow worker, a friend or family member and makes recovery of the computer a simple task.

Failsafe also reports what programs and data are being accessed by the user of the stolen computer and gives the owner of the computer the capability of remotely locking-out the computer and denying the unauthorized user access to any of the computer functions.

The Failsafe program is located in the computer BIOs and is both undetectable and tamper proof. The authorized user will not even be aware of the the Failsafe tracking activity.

While the failsafe stem is designed primarily for theft prevention and recovery of stolen computers the system capability may also be used to locate computers that have been misplaced or are being used without notification by some family member or friend. As unbelievable as it may sound laptop computers are inadvertently left in coffee shops, INTERNET cafés, airports, and restaurants every day. The 70,000 laptops left behind in La Guardia airport terminal are proof of this.

Failsafe also gives the owner of the lost computer the ability to access files and data and transmit to a second computer making it possible to access and use files and data that would otherwise have been lost.

Failsafe has provided new technology that can be a powerful theft deterrent, but more than that has provided an added level of data security for laptop users.