Thanks to computer surveillance technology, a laptop theft no longer has to be total disaster. Laptop theft and related crimes are increasing. It just takes a moment of distraction for your laptop to be gone along with all your music, photos, important files, and personal information. But with a little preparedness and the right spy tools, you can track you laptop down.
Besides making sure you have your laptop serial number and mac address written down in a secure place, there are dozens of computer surveillance tools that you can use you and the police locate your stolen computer. The majority of laptop locating computer surveillance tools on the market are GPS/LPS (global and local positioning) tracking programs that you install on your computer. Once your laptop is stolen, you can activate the locating features through the software company. These spy tools then send a signal to the software company servers giving the laptop’s location every time it is connected to the internet.
The wonderful thing about these sophisticated software spy tools is that they are invisible to any unauthorized users, so the thief won’t know they are being tracked. Additionally, some of the more advanced computer surveillance software options have remote laptop security (RLS) features, which will allow you to delete or encode personal information on your laptop via an internet connection to prevent identity theft as well. If your laptop has a built-in web-cam, some available computer surveillance will even allow you to take a picture of the thief.
There are also some downsides to this kind of computer surveillance software. First, the location is actually an IP address given to a particular network, which may or may not lead you to an actual physical address. Second, these spy tools rely on the probability that your laptop thief will connect to the internet. Third, they can leave you vulnerable to being tracked yourself. If someone manages get the right information, they can report your laptop “stolen” to find out where you are.
While it is still a good idea to purchase and install these types of laptop tracking spy tools, the best way to prevent laptop theft or prevent major damage once a laptop is stolen is to have multiple approaches: Back up your data regularly . Don’t save any sensitive data on your laptop, or if you have to, encrypt it. Use privacy sweeping software to wipe any traces of online activity (thieves can also use this information to their advantage). And buy a laptop lock.
If you want even more protection, there are other spy tools you could also utillize , like adding an actual GPS tracker to your computer. This type of spy tool will make your laptop bulkier and would be noticeable to potential thieves. However, those potential cons might actually work in your favor. Thieves are less likely to steal laptops that actually look like they might be an extra hassle. Thieve know that with this type of computer surveillance you don’t have to wait for the thief to log on to the internet. You can track the computer immediately.
An example of one such possible computer surveillance device is Micro Real Time GPS Tracking Device found on thespycorner.com. This device is about the size of a house key. It’s wireless and its battery power can last up to five days. And, by logging on to a computer, you can get the location in real time any where in the world.
However, no matter what spy tools you ultimately choose, the best laptop security plan goes back to having multiple approaches. From computer surveillance to a cable lock, the more you can do to protect yourself and your information the better.
