Learning the Hard Way
I was robbed today. Seriously.
Some brazen thief stole my laptop and my Asus Eee off my desk while I was at lunch. A few weeks of work since my last backup lost, and much personal writing and photography gone forever. A bitter pill, but swallowable. The thief will wipe the HD long before bothering to look at any of that material.
After I finished raging and attempting to wake up from this dream, I settled into filling out my purchase order for a new Thinkpad (being ordered tomorrow), looking on the bright side (laptop upgrade) and considering if I would get another Eee 701 ASAP, or perhaps swap the order and get a Wind or Kohjinsha first. Then I remembered that I had left my Gmail account open on the desktop when I left…and the always tempting “Remember Me on this Compter” option selected. Years of personal information reside in the deep pockets of my Gmail inbox, as I became very very worried.
Then I recalled a new feature I had read about in Gmail to help in just this situation. At the bottom of your Gmail inbox you now have the ability to see the time and IP address of the last activity on the account. Beyond that, click “Details” to see the times and IP addresses of the last few log ins. Even more important, from Details you can see if any other computers are logged onto your account and disconnect them with a single click. A quick check to be sure no one is reading my secrets, a password change and my history is safe thanks to a simple but frighteningly clever feature from Google.
So learn from me and my if not tragic, then annoying tale, my friends. Always follow these simple rules:
- Lock your office door. You never know who is in the halls of your company and receptionists are NOT security guards.
- Backup your drives at least weekly, and not just work material. Back up ANY important information regularly.
- Avoid selecting “Remember Me” on any website. A few seconds entering your user name and password are worth it for peace of mind.
- And lastly…remember you have the ability to monitor and remove unwanted visitors to your Gmail account at anytime.
So, Eee 701, Wind or Kohjinsha? Cheap and small, more powerful, or swivel touch screen?
Written by Zealot · Filed Under General
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Wow…that really sucks. I have to wonder though, where do you work that someone can just stroll in and take things?
Damn thieves!
You carry your laptop and EEE around?
As for carrying them both around all the time…I wish I did, then they couldn’t have been stolen off my desk.
Sigh.
Z
Wow, Zealot, that’s terrible news. I hope you can find some decent replacements ASAP!
That stinks. Sorry man.
That bites dude. I am glad you can see the positive side though. New Gear!!!!
Sorry for the loss bro …. but thank u for the very useful tip !!
Thieves are vile.
One more useful tip - password protect your screen saver if you leave your computer on at work. That should minimise the likelihood of your information being stolen.