Vantage Data Recovery

If someone steals your laptop, there isn’t a data recovery company in the world who can help you.  While it may hurt to have to replace the laptop (there are companies who will insure them), what about the data?  What if someone else had access to it?  Think about what’s on your laptop.  Business or personal financial information?  Trade secrets?  Customer information?  Maybe just personal emails that you wouldn’t want spread across the internet.

Laptops can disappear very quickly, often from places you might consider “safe”.  Before you walk away from that laptop, stop and ask yourself, “Would I leave my wallet there?”

Do not leave your laptop unattended (or in the care of strangers) for even a minute.  That coffee refill or trip to the restroom may have a big price tag.  Dorm rooms, libraries, business conferences, coffee shops or other WI-FI areas, hotel rooms, parked cars, and perhaps even your office can all be targets for laptop thieves.

Traveling presents its own set of challenges.  Laptops are lost or stolen in airports across the country at an alarming rate.  A recent study done by the Ponemon Institute for Dell Computer should scare you into paying attention to where yours is. 

There are measures you can take to keep your laptop safe. 

1.  The first and simplest: keep it close. 

2.  Never put a laptop in your checked baggage. 

3.  If you have to set your laptop down at an airport, restaurant, etc, put it between your feet or lean it against your leg. 

4.  At airport security, place it in a bin, and put it on the belt after your other items.  Don’t let it travel down the belt until you are clear to walk through to minimize the time it is out of your sight.  Keep your eye on it as it comes out of the scanner.  (As a side note, despite rumors, the TSA says it does not confiscate laptops.  See the TSA blog for an explanation of their policy.)

5.  Use a security cable when appropriate, and attach it to something immovable or at least something nearly immovable.

6.  There are companies who offer laptop tracking and recovery type security. (Of course they can’t guarantee to return your data)

7.  Password protect and/or encrypt your data.*  At least if they get your laptop, they won’t get your data. (Don’t keep the password on or with the laptop.)

8.  Finally, as always, backup your data regularly, and store the backup separately from your laptop.

*Remember – while data encryption will protect your data from prying eyes, it can make data recovery (should you ever need it) more difficult.  If you encrypt, be sure to back up regularly.

�