Just now I was catching up on some articles posted on Digg and stumbled across an interesting one: How to Prepare for a Stolen Mac.
Most of the tips apply to any computer, Mac or PC, so it should be a good article for anyone to read.
This has been something that has been bothering me greatly lately. While I backup my computer nightly to an external hard drive, it doesn’t help much that my backup is sitting on my computer desk, just 3 inches from my Macbook! In the event of theft or fire, I am almost guaranteed to be screwed big time.
What do I plan on looking into to solve this issue?
- I am going to look into either a fireproof safe or a safe deposit box at my local bank. I can then burn a weekly backup of my data onto DVD’s and keep it protected.
- I will make sure my renter’s insurance covers all of my equipment (laptop, printer/scanner, external hard drive, wireless router). That way I can get up and running as quickly as possible.
- Right now I have a Dashboard widget that e-mail’s me whenever my computer’s public IP address changes. If someone activates Dashboard and they are online, my e-mail account will get an instant e-mail containing the new IP address. In theory, this would let myself and law enforcement to track down (or at least narrow down) a search for a stolen laptop. I will look into other solutions that make this happen automatically, regardless of Dashboard being activated or not.
You can never be too safe.
A different direction that would make computer stuff and data difficult to lose/steal/etc. Implantable hardware. What do you think?
Hi Chris, do you mind sharing the name of the widget you mentioned that emails you when your IP address changes?