how do you secure your laptop?

security

Macworld is coming and I always worry about losing my laptop, either by being thoughtless, or by turning my back. With that in mind, I do four things to secure it:

1. I require a password to unlock it from sleep or on startup.

2. I set up a guest account (not the Leopard one) with no password and limited access to software.

3. I installed IPMenu from Loopware to alert me via email whenever the computer’s IP changes. That way, I’ll be notified of the new IP whenever the laptop goes online again.

4. I installed Flickrbooth, so that any pictures a possible thief takes with Photobooth will automatically be uploaded to my Flickr account.

None of these keep me from losing my laptop, but they might help me get it back.

On the network security front, I lock down the firewall, and only access private sites via ssh. And I occasionally crack open dsniff to see if everyone is being so careful.

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8 Responses to “how do you secure your laptop?”

  1. Elliot says:
    January 15, 2008 at 2:33 am

    http://orbicule.com/undercover
    Works as advertised, and makes #3 and #4 much easier.

    The more serious issue is that if your computer is stolen at Macworld, chances are high that whoever lifted it knows how to get around all these things. I’m leaving the MacBook at home in favor of the iPhone this year.

  2. Jeff says:
    January 15, 2008 at 8:56 pm

    I have a Ron Paul desktop picture that scares all potential thieves (and special interest groups) away.

    Ha! Ha! Ha!

    Honestly: I do none of those things. I have my various laptops set to bypass all paswords (on boot and on wakeup). I also leave a plate of money in my driveway and on occasion I let my friends “borrow” my social security number

  3. cauley says:
    January 16, 2008 at 12:35 am

    Speaking of, Jeff, I came by for a plate recently. What’s with all the nickels? Silver’s nice, but let’s make ‘em quarters, please…

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