Introduction

The world we are currently living in is not a safe place. Every day, there is news of people getting their important stuff stolen. Laptops, too, are essential and expensive articles of hardware. A good laptop fulfilling all your needs costs you approximately one hundred thousand. So it is also a great attraction for thieves.

Along with being costly, they also store a huge pile of your data. If you are a student, it would contain all your necessary educational soft-wares, all the projects you made, your assignments, personal data like photos and videos, and all the other stuff you keep in it. If you work in an office, regardless of your position, it would always have some files, probably personal data of other employees too, projects of your company, stuff you have been working on, and the list go on. If you lose your laptop, you lose all of this too.

Losing it is just the first step of long-term damage, the next kind of damage depends upon what kind of person stole it. If he is a normal thief who did it for money, then his only concern would be selling it and getting maximum profit, but if a hacker did it, he would get into your personal data and might use that information to blackmail you and correspondingly earn money. If the company you are working for is high-profile, he might leak some important information that can damage your reputation, your job, and the company as well.

Preventive Measures to Avoid Theft and Preparation Beforehand

What to do when your laptop is stolen (and how to prepare for it)? We should always be prepared for the worst, and side by side, try to avoid it by all possible means. Following preventive measures must be observed in order to secure your laptop.

• Most of these thefts happen during travel; in public transport mostly. Avoid leaving any important belonging of yours unattended. Take your laptop with you wherever you go.
• If you are traveling in your own car, either put your laptop in the trunk or if you are leaving it inside the car, cover it and make sure you lock the doors.
• While moving your laptop with yourself, do not keep it in a laptop case. It would prove to be an invitation. Rather, use some kind of briefcase for it, if you have your luggage, put the laptop inside that bag but in such a way that it is safe from any kind of damage.
• Install a safety lock on your laptop along with password verification. It comes in the form of a laptop security cable and makes it impossible for your laptop to be stolen. Browse different options available on websites and purchase one for your laptop as soon as possible.
• Make sure you have a strong antivirus installed on your laptop. They prevent thieves from accessing your private data, and hence you can keep it secure.
• Keeping a backup of your necessary data is highly important. Try to duplicate every file you have. Keep one file on your laptop and either upload the other to the cloud or store it on a separate hard drive kept safely at your place.
• Make sure you have tracking software or system installed on your laptop. Many soft-wares come with a link to your mobile. As soon as you report them as stolen, the software will start emitting signals that make your laptop easy to track.

What to do If your Laptop gets Stolen?

If by any chance, you lose your laptop, you need to follow these steps.

• First of all, try to locate your device via the tracking system or additional software installed.
• Report concerned authorities as soon as possible. You would probably have to visit a police station in person to get your report filed.
• People prefer online shopping these days, and there might be a chance that your credit card information is saved in any of your browsers. Inform your bank and ask them to freeze your accounts in order to save yourself from heavy losses.
• Sign out of all your accounts and change your passwords.
• Try erasing your data. A few laptops allow this feature after enabling the tracking system.

Conclusion

Losing your laptop is a highly unfortunate event. You need to be prepared under all circumstances regarding how you are going to deal with it. It definitely creates anxiety, but you have to stay calm and take every step carefully.