Tips for Protecting Yourself Against Robbery
We recently had our laptops stolen…out of our house…while we were sleeping. Creepy all the way around. The whole experience has been truly eye-opening in so many ways. I thought I would share what we have learned in the hopes of saving you some of the loss we have incurred.
Lock your doors. It’s a no-brainer, really, but still a crucial step in protecting yourself against thieves. This includes windows by the way. Thieves wait for nice weather, hoping you’ll forget to close and lock your windows. They also look for homes with families- they know that parents forget to lock back doors after their kids go in and out all day {or kids forget to lock after they go back in}.- Back up your computer at least weekly. Back it up with an external hard drive that you keep in secure place, preferably somewhere different than your laptop so that it doesn’t get stolen, too.
- Back up your work online. If you create lots of docs you’d like to save securely, try a program like Drop Box. My husband uses it for his PhD thesis/dissertation and it’s an easy, fast way to back up his doctoral research online.
- Install Covenant Eyes. This accountability program is fantastic for holding users accountable for where they go online. Covenant Eyes is great for making sure no one strays where they shouldn’t. An added bonus is that if a robber tries to go online, Covenant Eyes can track the IP address and possibly help the police recover the stolen laptop!
- Invest in insurance. If you lose your stuff, you’ll wish you had. Enough said.
- Keep good records. This can be a hassle, but your insurance is worth very little if you can’t prove what you had and how much it cost. Fortunately, my husband scanned in our laptop receipts and can prove exactly what we have…I mean, had.
- Don’t let thieves rob you of an ergonomic work station. If all else fails and you have to get new laptops or accessories {even though they left my wireless mouse, its usb port was still inserted, so it’s useless to me}, go ergonomic! Just because you have to replace your equipment doesn’t mean you should downgrade…or even buy exactly what you had. Take this time to assess what you need {and even don’t need} and make an ergonomic choice. For me, I miss a full-sized keyboard and a wireless mouse.
Protecting yourself against stolen laptops and accessories is a matter of being proactive. If you do have to replace your computer or accessories, make sure you go ergonomic for the best fit so the thieves don’t rob you of a comfortable work experience!