Physical security of computers is strongly linked to a company’s data security. For example, access to one of a particular company’s laptops can be invaluable to a hacker who is seeking to break into their network. Physical computer security should ideally be incorporated as an aspect of a company’s overall security policy.

Make sure your people never leave laptops unattended or unsecured, when not in use always lock your computers away in a laptop case or safe. Even if locked into a car or office, the computer is still a target (90% of all Flexysafe’s customers first contact us after losing a laptop from a locked car or office.) Police statistics in the UK actually show that criminals will specifically target certain vehicle models used by company fleet drivers in search of a laptop computer.

Lock the laptop into a safe or case when not in use – preferably a safe tested by an independent third party. Experience of Flexysafe customers shows that even though an office building is secure, computer equipment will still go missing due to theft by employees, visitors or sub-contractors working on the site.

Make sure passwords are used and ensure that users change them to a schedule to deter the casual thief from accessing the data.

Maintain an inventory of your organisation’s laptops, the manufacturer, model, serial number and the individual responsible for each computer.

Make sure all users back up their files. Every month we hear of yet another individual who has lost years of research, all their contact information, or their entire diary when they lost their laptop. At least a back-up means that work can continue once a new computer is bought.

Mark the laptop with ‘SmartWater’ or at least with a zip/postcode – it might help the Police to catch those responsible and help prevent future crimes.

Make sure that any old or obsolete laptops are disposed of in a way which prevents any later user reading information from the hard disk.