The loss or theft of a laptop can be devastating for the owner, but it can also have serious consequences for our department and the university, especially if the laptop contains sensitive information such as student records. The university takes the loss of any laptop very seriously and will make every effort to determine whether sensitive data has been exposed, and whether remedial action is necessary.
Listed below are a few things you can do to minimize your own risk, and the risk to the university. This information applies to personally-owned laptops. For help with UVA-purchased laptops in the Physics Department, please contact physics-comp@virginia.edu. (For other departments, please contact your department’s LSP for advice.)
Prevention
Here are a few things you can do to prevent your laptop from being stolen.
Close and lock your door when you’re out of your office.
Even though it’s inconvenient to unlock your door several times a day, this is a very good way to reduce your risk. Many people walk through our department, and a laptop (or other valuable item) sitting in an open, unoccupied office is a tempting target for thieves. Although foot traffic is reduced at night, people come and go in our department 24 hours a day. An unlocked door in a low-traffic area can provide an opportunity for thieves to quickly duck in, pick up a laptop, and walk away nonchalantly.
Hide your laptop when you leave.
Even a locked door won’t deter all thieves. Some door locks are easily defeated, and we’ve even seen thieves bold enough to use a crowbar to pry open a metal door. When you leave your office, put your laptop in a drawer or some other place where it’s not visible from the doorway. A thief isn’t likely to spend time rummaging through drawers.
Consider using a security cable.
If your laptop stays in your office most of the time, you might want to consider using a security cable to make it harder to steal.
None of these measures are foolproof, but they can significantly reduce the probability that your laptop will be stolen.
Mitigation
Here are some things you can do now that will make things better if your laptop does get stolen in the future.
Encrypt the disk and store the encryption key in a safe place.
Disk encryption is the single most important thing you can do to limit potential damage to the university due to a lost laptop. If your laptop’s disk is encrypted, it will be practically impossible for thieves to extract any information from it. This means that any student records or other sensitive data on the laptop are safe, and the university won’t have any concern about it. Encryption will also ensure that your personal data are protected.
You can find information about turning on disk encryption for Windows computers here:
and for Apple computers here:
At the end of the encryption process Windows or MacOS will offer you the chance to save a recovery key that will let you decrypt the disk later if neccessary. Note that it is critically important that you not lose the recovery key. Store it in a safe place that’s not on or near your laptop.
There’s no simple way to non-destructively encrypt an already-installed Linux system. If you need to encrypt a Linux laptop, the recommended procedure is to back up all of your files, and then re-install the operating system, selecting the necessary encryption options during installation. You can find some information about doing this under Ubuntu here:
and under Fedora (and other RHEL-related distributions) here:
Use an automatic backup procedure.
If your laptop’s disk is encrypted and you have a backup of the files, then the laptop’s loss is reduced to a purely financial concern. UVA provides faculty, students, and staff with several tools that can be used for backing up your computer.
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Box.net
UVA provides each user with 1 Terabyte of cloud-based storage at Box.net. You can find out about "UVA Box" here: https://in.virginia.edu/box, and you can see your Box files here: https://virginia.box.net . Box provides a tool for Windows and MacOS called "Box Sync" that can be used to continuously and automatically keep copies of your laptop’s files in Box’s cloud storage. You can find out about Box Sync here:
Box.net can also be used with Linux, through a utility named
rclone. You can find information about setting up rclone for use with Box.net here: https://rclone.org/box/ . Once configured, you can use therclone synccommand to synchronize a directory on your computer with a folder in your Box.net storage. -
Microsoft OneDrive
UVA provides each user with 5 Terabytes of cloud-based storage in Microsoft’s OneDrive as part of the user’s Office365 account. You can find out about UVA OneDrive here: https://in.virginia.edu/onedrive . An application that will automatically synchronize your laptop’s files with OneDrive is available. It’s called "OneDrive for Business Desktop Sync". You can find instructions for using it with Windows here:
and for using it with MacOS here:
Require a password
You should configure your computer so that it requires a password to log you in, and also requires a password whenever you open the lid and wake it up. Without that protection, anyone can pick up your laptop and read any of your files. They might also have access to some of your online resources if you access those through a certificate via NetBadge or through a password saved by your web browser.
Know identifying information about your computer.
It’s important to have a record of the manufacturer, model, and serial number of your laptop. If your laptop is lost or stolen, and if you report the theft to the police, this information will let them identify the laptop as yours if it’s found. Keep this information in a safe place, away from the laptop.