
Ask HN: How are you securing your laptops in public places? - zemanel
How are you securing your laptops in public places, like coffee shops and LAN parties/events, when you're by yourself and need to be absent from the laptop? Like when "nature calls".<p>EDIT:<p>1. i think i mean "gyroscope" instead of osciloscope.
2. since this post is my content and, ergo, any comments here are derived from that content, i therefore allow permission for any commenter to make use of humor, sarcasm, wits and any language expression deemed "funny".
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swombat
I keep my laptop with me at all times in a public place. If I go to the
toilet, I pack up my laptop and take it with me. It's not worth risking £2.2k
of equipment (plus all the hassle) for the convenience of not losing your
seat.

Worth noting that I don't work in coffee shops too often.

~~~
davidw
+1 for paranoia. It's not just the price of the laptop itself:

* Downtime if I have to replace it.

* Hassle of getting something similar (US keyboard) over here in Italy.

* Worry of having passwords/ssh keys/etc... out there.

~~~
dagw
_Hassle of getting something similar (US keyboard)_

This is one thing Apple does very right. Apple is the only company that will
happily sell me a laptop with a US keyboard here in Sweden. In fact they have
it as a standard option in their web shop and doesn't cost anything. From
every other brand I've looked it was either a flat out "No" or an expensive a
complicated procedure.

~~~
barrkel
This is ironic. In the same way that Apple is closed system and hence hardware
is normally more expensive than PC's standardized hardware, laptops are
integrated systems and the fragmentation means only a handful of parts are
generically substitutable. Apple wins by having proportionally less
fragmentation.

Most laptop keyboards are little replaceable trays connected to the
motherboard with a ribbon cable. If the keyboards were easily available to
purchase independently, you could probably do it yourself; but they're not.

------
parfe
I just leave it on the table if I need to use the bathroom.

I use an 8 year old laptop (Dell 600m) to connect to a remote X session. They
can be had for around $120. I keep nothing sensitive on the local drive.

Someone stealing it would annoy me, but I don't feel the need to stress over
it. Being constantly paranoid isn't worth it. I'm not going to sit there
worrying that the guy three tables over has been scoping me out during my last
three extra larges waiting for the perfect opportunity to grab and go with my
laptop.

~~~
timr
Netbooks are great for this. I took a trip to Europe this spring, and I bought
a $300 EeePC just so that I could check email, post to Facebook, etc. I could
carry it into any café (or more realistically, McDonalds...free internet!) in
France, and not really worry about theft.

Install Linux on one of those little guys, and you've got a reasonably useful
hacking terminal that is practically disposable.

------
zaidf
I've been leaving my laptop unattended at school libraries for OVER 5 years.
Zero incidents. I lied--this one girl turned it in few months ago thinking I'd
forgotten.

I have left it for 12+ hours on more occasions then I can count. Once I had to
mistakingly leave it overnight because I got the closing time wrong. I
returned the next day and my desk was untouched.

My friends at school think I'm nuts. But for me, leaving the laptop at one
place for a prolonged period of time serves as an anchor of sorts. I can go do
things(eat/play/class) and return back without the headache of having to setup
up my work environment again.

~~~
carterschonwald
I did this many time in college to, at the library that's 24hrs. It also helps
if at least one upper level or grad mathy text is on the table lying open.
That being said: 1) for the 12+hr interval (eg heading off to sleep then do
something, then return) I add one of those laptop lock cables 2) those cables
are more for the psychology of "don't touch this" than for security (just like
how people feel uncomfortable near unfamiliar math), as a cheap wire cutter
will remove one in a short time

~~~
zaidf
Ah of course! Leave a textbook open, or a notebook open that shows you were in
the middle of a sentence before you had to go take a call.

I've actually thought about doing an experiment with an iPod: I'd leave an
iPod in the student union and observe how long before someone turns it in /
tries to run away with it.

------
SandB0x
"Hey, do you mind watching my stuff for a minute?" works pretty well.

This is normally on a train or a library, and when there's someone around who
doesn't look too shifty.

~~~
wyclif
That's especially good with cute girls. Doesn't sound like a line (because it
isn't), and often starts a conversation when you return.

~~~
mootothemax
_That's especially good with cute girls_

And because the girl's cute, she's sure to be honest!

OK, so it's horrible to be so paranoid, but c'mon - you're trusted a
_stranger_ with a lot of money. Would you stop someone in the street, point to
$500 lying on the street, ask them the same and expect them to still be there
when you come back?

~~~
BrandonM
> you're trusted a _stranger_ with a lot of money

"A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet." - Will Rogers

The term _stranger_ is a useful tool to prevent children from trusting shifty
individuals. As an adult, calling people strangers seems to me to be a good
way to live in fear and fail to meet interesting new people. Most people are
basically good.

~~~
mootothemax
Maybe it comes from growing up in London, but I will /not/ trust someone I
don't know with goods that are worth a great deal of time and money to me.

I'm wondering if having been previously conned (thankfully many years ago now
- the embarrassment has faded) has something to do with it. I fell for the man
in dining suit asking to borrow money for his meal in a restaurant. I also
fell for the girl in tears outside my front door, complete with baby in
pushchair. And then, nearly every day in summer months, standing outside the
pub, there's /another/ guy or girl who's lost their train fare home. There are
more of them out there than you might think.

~~~
Poiesis
Recently my mom witnessed an interaction at our county fair where a woman was
feeling symptoms of a heart attack, and feeling very ill. This woman flagged
down someone, and handed her her iPhone to call for help. The passerby
promptly took off with the phone, which is where my mom stepped in to use her
phone to help.

------
herrherr
\- Normally I take it with me, just like swombat does

\- Harddrive is encrpyted

\- Installed <http://preyproject.com/> (free) - allows you to track it in case
it gets stolen

\- My profile is secured by a password, but there is a blank profile that
people can just log into, so that Prey can do its work :)

~~~
shin_lao
If the disk is encrypted, I'm not sure how Prey project is useful since the
thief will not run the original OS but reformat/reinstall one.

~~~
herrherr
That's what the open guest profile is for. At least in theory :)

~~~
shin_lao
The disk is encrypted, access to the OS is impossible without the decryption
key.

------
imajes
I spent 8 weeks in Buenos Aires last year - a high theft city. I worked out of
a favorite coffee shop, and frequently went upstairs to use the bathroom
whilst leaving my laptop out downstairs.

tips -

1\. always be comfortable in your surroundings. Know who's coming in and out,
the type of people, whether you can trust the staff.

2\. make eye contact with someone, best if it's a staff member, and ask them
to keep an eye. Most people will, and staff will often hover by your table
till you get back.

3\. Put your screen to sleep and half close the lid. Helps if you have clutter
on the table -- don't draw attention to it.

4\. be quick. :) obvious but useful to know.

finally: have insurance, backups, etc.

One more thing-- i've found having a kensington chain to be useful where i
have things in longer-term situations which i leave unattended for a while
(e.g. my display in the coworking space i'm at). Those are pretty lightweight
and really easy to install. wrap one around a table leg and lock to the
machine. Done.

------
dkersten
I got an eee pc for "I'm not at home" purposes, so I just stick it in my bag
and bring it with me.

I wouldn't leave my cheap phone unattended, nevermind a laptop.

------
bnoordhuis
My laptop has a sticker on it: "WARNING! Do not touch. This device belongs to
a person with a contagious skin disease."

Works like a charm. :-)

~~~
rbanffy
My car had a "Radioactive. In case of accident, please contact xxx-xxxx
urgently".

I never had any break in incident with that car.

------
akadruid
The same way you secure your wallet.

I can't imagine why anyone would leave their laptop / phone / other device
lying around. I go out and about in London, and I don't see anyone doing this.

I suppose LAN parties are an exception, but properly organised large events
have a policy of tagging all equipment coming in and checking it on the way
out. I have not been to a small private event where people were allowed in
without being known and vouched for by another attendee.

------
paulgb
I'm pretty protective of my laptop by not leaving it alone, but one thing that
I do is ensure my laptop is not too desirable to thieves. I have a half-dozen
stickers on the back, primarily as a theft deterrent (they make a good
conversation starter, too).

I'm actually deterred from buying a new laptop because I've put several years
of effort into abusing my machine to the point that it's cosmetically not
worth selling.

~~~
stcredzero
I'm sure you could find dozens of happy laptop-abuse volunteers on Craigslist.

------
jasonkester
Sprawl.

With enough cables, mousepads and assorted garbage cluttering one of those
little coffee shop tables, I'll wager I can pee faster than you can pack my
stuff and casually walk out the door.

Sure, it doesn't stop the guy in the ski mask and hamburgler shirt from
snatching it and sprinting off, but really has anybody here actually seen that
happen to a laptop at a Starbucks?

~~~
mootothemax
_has anybody here actually seen that happen to a laptop at a Starbucks_

Not Starbucks, but yes, in plenty of public places. For a scummier example,
Newham General hospital in London had a huge problem with people walking in to
the A&E department and walking off with their computers.

As far as I can tell, there are two types of theft: those of opportunity
(addict _needs_ a fix _right now_!) and those which are planned. I've seen a
laptop being stolen without realising it before: well-dressed guy walked up to
the table, unplugged, calmly packed it away, and walked out. Two minutes later
the real owner comes in and asks if anyone's seen what happened. Sad, even
lost the case!

~~~
niekmaas
About a year ago we had a similar problem in the hospital I was doing clinical
rotations in. A gang of well-dressed men would walk in holding empty-laptop
and beamer bags. They would then check out all conference rooms and take all
equipment they could easily remove. Nobody ever noticed until they checked out
all security video footage.

------
michaelkeenan
Product idea: a USB device with an accelerometer. When you need to leave your
laptop for a few minutes, you insert the USB device and start a program that
plays a loud siren sound if the USB device reports movement, or if it's
removed. Then you lock your screen the usual way.

Downside: if they power off the laptop or remove the battery, they can still
take the laptop. Would a thief do that? I imagine they'd want to leave as
quickly as possible so they'd just put the lid down, remove any USB devices,
and go.

~~~
roryokane
Apple actually includes accelerometers in their laptops, so there is a free
app called iAlertU (<http://ialertu.sourceforge.net/>) that does exactly this.

------
camtarn
Small light laptop, messenger bag which is quick to drop the laptop into and
sling over one's shoulder, and occasional OS maintenance to keep
suspend/resume as fast as possible. I found that all of these factors meant
that I was more likely to take my laptop with me than when I had a bulky
desktop replacement in a fiddly rucksack that took ~30 seconds to come back
from sleep.

I also had a pair of cargo pants with a ripped pocket that was _almost_ big
enough to carry my laptop. Always meant to sew an extension onto that pocket
to create a quick-draw laptop holster - the perfect thing for someone who
likes to walk about while thinking and needs to take notes in a hurry ;)

~~~
ahi
At first I thought, "awesome, I need to do that!" Then I felt ashamed for both
of us.

------
zemanel
This got me wondering about a self/USB powered device with an oscilloscope or
something, that you would attach to a Kesington lock or something and would
sound an alarm if it detected movement (being moved)...

~~~
mootothemax
Car alarms don't work. Bike alarms don't work. Out of interest, why do you
think a laptop alarm will make any difference?

~~~
zemanel
maybe youre right but a soundy alarm inside a coffee shop packs more punch
than in the street. But yeah, still doesnt keep the thug from taking it.

------
AmitinLA
Kensington Microsaver Security Cable (<http://amzn.to/bkV7Jd>). Coils neatly
for easy backpack storage. I work almost every day out of coffeeshops and lock
it to a chair and will walk away for sometimes an hour at a time with
absolutely no trouble. Someone will either have to spend 10+ minutes sawing
through it or try to steal a chair, which most people will notice.

------
matwood
Most of my public place time is in a local coffee shop where I know everyone
(owner, employees, other customers) and they know me. I can leave my stuff
there no problem and if I need to leave to run an errand I can pack my stuff
up and leave it behind the counter.

In unfamiliar public places I generally will pack up completely. It only takes
a second for someone to steal your stuff and that's the last thing I need :)

------
AN447
Only leave it around the university library, half these kids are far more
affluent than me. So theft is the last thing on most people's agenda!

~~~
harshpotatoes
I'm not sure what your university library is like, but I would be careful in
them. At the UWashington, at least once a month you would here announcements
over the PA that a few laptops had just gone missing, and to be on the
lookout/careful.

~~~
koenigdavidmj
Yeah, but that's all contextual as well. If I'm in Odegaard (non-UW people:
the 24 hour library) then I will not leave it out. If I am in the CSE
department labs, then I probably recognise a few people in the lab at any
given time, so I feel a bit safer leaving out the laptop.

------
javanix
1\. I avoid leaving it around in public places.

2\. If I _were_ to think about leaving it in a public place, I'd think of ways
to make people not want to steal it - it's a laptop, it takes about 2 seconds
for someone to grab it and run if it's not secured. No alarm or tracking
system is going to do anything to PREVENT theft if the thief doesn't know
about it.

------
natch
I carry a light cloth two-strap bag inside my backpack. It can be worn just
like a backpack, but it crunches into about the size of a tennis ball when not
being used. It's very quick to stick the laptop in the bag without fussing
with any of my other stuff. Putting the laptop in the backpack is a more
involved process - have to wait for it to sleep, talk to the person who points
out to me that I forgot my cord (I didn't), negotiate with the person who
comes and takes my seat that I was still using, etc., etc.

------
arikb
I have a large, quite unique and difficult to remove sticker on its back. I
don't need to be the most secure, only more secure than other people around
me.

Oh and I don't leave my laptop unattended for more than a few seconds at a
time. That helps too.

~~~
protomyth
Stickers are good. The lifetime NRA member sticker generally does a good job.
:)

------
gcv
Spend time at a coworking location instead of a coffee shop, and don't worry
about it.

------
zacharyvoase
I’ve used Lockdown before: <http://www.foozoodesign.com/lockdown.html>

Still, I rarely allow my laptop to leave my sight.

------
elmindreda
If the event is a demoparty, I'll just lock the screen. In other places, I'll
usually bring my laptop along.

------
moeffju
I'm usually not securing my laptop at all, never had any issues. Starbucks,
trains, barcamps, etc.

Hamburg and Berlin, Germany

------
noodle
i either get someone to watch my stuff, or i take it with me. as it was
already mentioned, it isn't about $, its about the hassle of losing documents
and time.

if someone wants to steal my laptop, they're going to do it. if someone is
tech savvy enough, they probably won't get caught.

------
ja27
Depends

