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Ouch,  my laptop is stolen, theft of my ipad, lost my phone

Loss or theft of computing devices is not an uncommon event. When it happens, you might feel less discomfortable if you have taken precautions in advance.

Easy things to do before ...

This is a list of easy things to do before your device is lost, stolen ,...
They will help you after the unexpected did occur:

  1. Make an identification sheet for your device. This is easy when you have the device available.

  2. Use a locking device. Large mobile devices (e.g. laptops) have a connector for Kensington locks, use it when possible.
    Make sure though to attach it to something rigid (tables are not rigid ;-)

  3. Make backup. Make regularly backup of your device, it is the way to recover lost information.

  4. Make sure login and password info on your device are locked/encrypted e.g. by using master-passwords in browsers.
    Beware if you loose the key or lock nobody should be able to help you recover this info.
    Better yet: store as little sensitive information on your personal device as possible.
    Portable things tend to get lost or stolen eventually and passwords that aren't there can't be cracked nor used.

  5. Encrypt the information on your disk. Beware if you loose the key or lock, nobody should be able to help you recover this info, therefore it may be a good idea to encrypt only part of your disk and to store the key somewhere safe.

  6. There are special tags to be attached to devices. These tags are impossible to remove and can be used to find your device. They contain a unique identifying number or label with which the responsible organization can track the device (and hopefully return it to the rightfull owner ;-) Useful?

  7. Some manufacturers offer programs to insure your device against loss/theft. Worth the cost ? No answer of KULeuven insurance yet.

... and after your device is gone (not so easy)

Things to know and to do:

  1. Gather information:

    • Where and when was it lost/ stolen ?
    • Identifying details (the ones you registered in the step above ;-)

  2. Warn the applicable "lost and found service"

  3. If stolen warn the Police.
    The Kuleuven insurance may be applicable but it requires at least official police reports and proof of burgling.

  4. Warn the Kuleuven network service and your local sysadmins and pass the  MAC address(es).
    They will scan Kuleuven wide if those addresses should re-appear within Kuleuven and Association.

  5. Information stored on your device:

    1. Use your backup to recover.
    2. If the information on your device was encrypted, good for you, but if you use the same key elsewhere, change it.
      • Or at least assess the risk of not doing so ... what are the consequences if the finder/thief of your laptop does indeed crack your encryption key?
    3. If your device did contain login information or passwords, change them and warn the involved sysadmins.
      • This includes (private) SSH keys ... remove them from all authorized_keys files on all hosts you've used them!
      • (Try to) remember for which web-services you stored your password in your browser(s!) and change all of them
      • (Try to) remember for which mail-services you stored your password in your mail client(s!) and change all of them
      • Do so for all other kinds of services you've stored a password for.

    4. If the disk did contain unencrypted critical information, you should warn the people for which this info is critical.

      • Including, but not limited to: examination results, student lists, examination tests, ...

  6. If you have insurance against theft/loss, warn/contact the insurance organisation.