Well friend, I’ve got some good news, some bad news, and some “just okay news” for you.
The good news is:
Tracking your stolen laptop is totally doable and even easy--depending on what service you’re using to track it.
The bad news is:
If you haven’t already installed the necessary service or registered the machine to a service, then it’s now too late to activate those services to track down your lost hardware.
The “just okay” news is:
If you happen to own an apple device and you still have the serial number for the laptop or tablet (look in the box if you’ve still got that hidden away in a storage closet somewhere), you can report your employee’s stolen device to Apple here:
http/support.apple.com/kb/ht2526
If the thief is both unintelligent & unlucky (many thieves are both), he may attempt to sell the device to a business dealer or through some other service that runs checks on serial numbers. If your thief does this, your laptop may find it’s way back to you via the long arm of the law.
Regardless, it’s a good idea for you to both report your stolen device to the police and to the brand that manufactured your device. Unfortunately, aside from Apple, the only household brand of PC that I was able to find where this process of registering your stolen machine is at all straightforward is Dell.
https/support.dell.com/support/topics/…
If you are a business owner, the lesson of the lost laptop is a hard one to learn. A study conducted by Intel & the Ponemon institute in 2010 found that 7 percent of all business laptops (in their sample set) are lost or stolen within the lifespan of their usefulness, and the average cost of a stolen laptop for a larger business is $56K--due to compromised security and data for the most part. The cost of replacing the hardware was only a fraction of that expense.
There are some free types of tracking software that are available for individuals (Prey would be an example), but in the case of a business where there are many parties involved, organization & enforcement can be difficult and the liability is high, a service like Druva’s inSync is recommended.
From the website:
“As a theft deterrent, SafePoint can determine the exact location of devices for enabled endpoints. It employs a software engine that provides the geographical location of devices with an accuracy of 10 to 20 meters at any point in time. A map on the inSync dashboard makes i easy to see where enabled devices are located.”
“SafePoint provides an instant view of the location of remote endpoint devices as they come online, with details such as street, city, state, or country. It enables the initiation of a remote decommission to wipe critical data from the device and prevent data breach.”
This is an avenue you might want to explore if you want to prevent the headache you are about to experience with the unsecured data on your computer from recurring at some point in the future.
Free trials are available here: DELETED BY MODERATOR
Other sources:
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