Theft Prevention/Recovery for IT equipment

B

Boscoh

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 25, 2003
Messages
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I've been asked to help find a solution for an institution having issues with equipment (mostly projectors and laptops) being stolen.

Obviously, the most apparent solution was to keep them in a locked room and secure them with cable locks. But apparently that hasn't stopped whoever is doing this, and they're unable to catch them. They're also being stolen during the day when users are using them but have just walked away for a few moments.

What I was thinking of recommending was an ID tagging system on all the equipment that is tamper resistant and leaves a permanent marking on the equipment when removed. This is what I was considering:

http://www.stoptheft.com/prodset.htm

I was considering also installing software on these laptops which "phone home" when connected to the Internet. Obviously, my primary concern with this is whether the software will survive an OS reinstall and disk reformat. I've heard there are products out there which can do this. I can understand how one would survive an OS reinstall, but how are they surviving a disk format? Would installing the software on a non-DOS partition render it unremovable except by certain software?

The only software I've gotten recommendations on is CompuTrace Plus.

PC Phone Home also looks interesting, and prevents access to disk formatting commands as it's protection measure against formats. As they say in their FAQ section, it prevents access to "normal format, low level format, fdisk, and fdisk/mbr commands."

Does anyone have experience with products they'd recommend?

One of their main goals is not just to stop the theft, but they're eager for blood and want to catch the person doing this.

EDIT:
I should also say that they're considering motion detectors in rooms where equipment being stolen is permanently installed, and considering CCTV cameras in storage rooms.
 
Sup Boscoh,

We use computrace in our environment (for our laptops). They can survive most OS installs and formats.

I usually order this with the laptop at the beginning of the lease. (makes it a bit more cost effective).

Support is ok, but very responsive (company is canadian). Also, if you have a common image, there are some special instructions in loading the application.

The application doesn't run in appear to run in memory or as a service. Its virtually undetectable. And the only way to uninstall the program is to have the original install app. Without it, the computrace program cannot be uninstalled.

the program phones home pretty often.(either by phone or internet) The reporting capability of the website is a little ghetto but gets by.

The nice thing about the whole thing is that once a item is "stolen", you call 1 company and they deal with all the legal issues (locating the machine, getting in touch with the law enforcement, dealing in recovery, etc.)

They are pretty good with evals, so give them a try and throw everything you wish at them.

Hope this helps.
 
That sounds pretty sweet! Might look into it myself.

Also, what about those magnetic taggy things you see in libraries and department stores. If you walk through them with a tagged item, a buzzer goes off and guards run over and hit you sticks.
 
Thanks Darth, that helps out a lot.

This place has multiple buildings and once everyone is gone, the building is locked up. There are no security gaurds in each building.

The theft is occuring both after hours and during the day. So either soomeone has a master key to the building, knows that they are using a master key system and made their own, or is picking locks. If it is after hours then by the time the magnetic alarms went off and law enforcement responded, the person would be long gone. So that's not really an option.
 
CCTV is probably the best bet, provided its someone known, if they are gettin in at night and seemingly have access to this equipment it sounds likely to me.

CCTV however is usually esily detected, and if it was installed they would probably notice... what about the likes of a wireless webcam?! place one in the rooms looking over the equipment, discreetly, dont even tell anyone! set up a computer to record the streams, and enjoy the show! :D

i would look into that option, that way there is no trace of it, no need to worry about them finding ways to remove the programs etc, and if no one knows, then it wont stop them.

Just fork out of for a big hard drive to save the streams too! :p
 
well my first though it making people personally responsible for the equipment they check out. I mean you just don't leave a 2-3K peice of equipment laying arround. Second is how they are being stolen. locked upo in a room? how about some video survalence?
 
If you are looking for CCTV monitoring devices, ironically, my company makes them. This is one of our smaller divisions. Check it out.

http://www.mitsubishi-imaging.com/security/

Also, i forgot to mention that Absolute software (makes of computrace) have a product which also secures the hard drive.

In the event the machine gets stolen, you can remotely lock the hard-drive (once it checks in)...
 
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