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According to FBI estimates, the most common computer crime is identity theft. The second most common crime: laptop computer theft, with around 2 million laptop computers reported stolen every year. 97% of these laptops are never recovered.

The value of the information contained on the laptop often exceeds the worth of the computer itself. Documents, spreadsheets, databases, graphics, photographs and emails representing huge investments of time and money can often be lost forever because of a laptop computer theft. Sometimes, the information found in laptops can be extremely valuable to crooks: names, addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, bank account and credit card numbers are highly-prized items, and catching the bad guys who exploit this information is next to impossible.

The who’s-who list of high-profile laptop theft victims is amazing: 2000 laptop computers “missing” from the Internal Revenue Service, 400 “lost or stolen” from the Department of Justice (along with 775 firearms); 1,100 laptops missing from the federal Department of Commerce. Other victims include the Navy College office in San Diego; the Department of Energy Counterintelligence Directorate; Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s press secretary; Bank of America; University of California, Berkeley; San Jose Medical Group; Wells Fargo Bank; GMAC Financial Services; Cleveland State University; Oklahoma State University; UCLA; Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Department of State; Colorado child-support enforcement division; Fidelity Investments; Florida Department of Transportation Inspector General; Los Alamos National Laboratory; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Federal Trade Commission; Boeing; Health Corporation of America (HCA); Montana Department of Public Health; Bank Rhode Island; Chase Bank; and, unfortunately, the list goes on and on, a list that would fill up an entire issue of this newspaper.

To prevent yourself from becoming yet another statistic, there are a number of sensible precautions that you should take to protect your laptop computer, most of them based on the principal, “Don’t leave your laptop unattended.” Don’t leave your laptop in your car. I travel all over town with my laptop. If I need to stop at a store or restaurant, I always carry my laptop bag inside. I also never leave my laptop unattended in a restaurant booth. If I need to use the restroom, the laptop goes with me.

As a first technological line of defense, laptops should also be password-protected, twice. A strong password should be required to load the operating system. The BIOS (or, “system settings”) should also be password-protected, and the laptops ability to boot to a CD or other external device should be disabled. If you don’t know what these things mean, find someone who does.

Important data on a laptop should also be encrypted. That way, if it does “go missing,” at least nobody will be able to steal your important information. It’s also extremely important to make regular backup copies of everything that you don’t want to lose. Keep your backups in a secure place. Refer to my article, “Back it up before it breaks,” for more information.

Consider engraving your name somewhere on the laptop. This makes it less attractive to black market buyers. Finally, buy a laptop cable lock, such as those found at www.targus.com. Or, check out the neat secure carrying cases found at www.pacsafe.com. Take laptop security seriously; do it today.