A rather lengthy (which in this case is good) Linux.com article describes in detail things you can do to secure a laptop. The nice part is that it can be applied to just about any laptop running a modern OS (even ones that aren’t Linux).

Some points covered are:

Insurance

This has nothing to do with tech but everything to do with protecting yourself from economic loss. Laptops are expensive. Insuring it won’t cover the data lost if your laptop is stolen, but some policies will fully reimburse you for a new one.

Encryption Options

You basically have two choices with hard drive data encryption. Either encrypt some of the disk or all of it. Another option is to use a portable means of encryption, such as an encrypted USB thumb drive.

The article makes mention of TrueCrypt; free open source on-the-fly encryption software that runs on Windows and Linux.

I haven’t tested it yet but it’s nice to know there are free encryption options out there. Better to use this than running without any encryption at all.

GPS tracking a stolen system

Yes, this is completely do-able but not foolproof. Very important to mention that. The method mentioned assumes the thief did not reformat the hard drive and used the existing OS after stealing the laptop.

. . .

There’s more really good useful information on securing a laptop listed in the article. Check it out here:

http://www.linux.com/feature/123579

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