Kansas State University

Laptop theft in the residence halls underscores the risk

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published April 8, 2008

The news that several laptops were stolen out of Haymaker Hall last week and several more stolen last weekend compels me to reiterate past advice on protecting your laptop computer and the data stored on it.  All the recent thefts appear to be crimes of opportunity - laptops and gaming devices grabbed out of unlocked rooms - which underscores one of the cardinal rules of laptop security: never leave an unsecured laptop unattended. As a first step, students should always lock their door when they leave their room or apartment. Faculty and staff should likewise lock their office door when they leave. Even if you just step out for a few minutes, that's all the time it takes for someone to slip in, grab your laptop, put it in their backpack and leave.

However, a locked door is not an absolute guarantee against theft. Can you trust your roommates and their friends? Who else has keys to your office or your hotel room? And a locked door will not stop a determined criminal. Thus you should secure your laptop even if it is behind a locked door. Buy a notebook computer security cable (prices range from $15-$50) and use it in your residence hall room, at home, in your office, or in your hotel room.

Other precautions for preventing theft of your laptop:

• Record the make,model, and serial number of the laptop and take pictures of it. Also record the hardware/MAC address of both the wired and wireless network interfaces since this can help locate the computer after it's stolen.
• Apply a tamper-resistant asset label or engrave the cover with identification information.
• Use a nondescript carrying case like a tote bag or backpack rather than one that is obviously for a laptop and has the computer manufacturer's name on it.
• Don't let it out of your sight in public locations like Hale Library, the Union, coffee shops, and airports.
• Never leave it in plain sight in a vehicle. Avoid leaving it in the trunk since most cars have a quick-release lever inside the car to open the trunk.
• Always take it in your carry-on luggage and watch it carefully as it goes through the security checkpoints in airports.
• Purchase laptop tracking and recovery software like Computrace LoJack for Laptops from Absolute Software Corp.  Some models of laptops come with Computrace support pre-installed, but you have to purchase a license to activate.

For more information on securing your laptop and the data stored on it, see K-State's Guidelines for Mobile Device Security.

The Back button and grading essay questions

When grading essay questions, do not use the Back button in your web browser to make an edit to your feedback or the score of a previously graded student's essay.  Using the Back button and then clicking Save and Next Student or Save and Next Question can result in your changed feedback or score not being saved properly.

A fix will be put into place as part of the August 2008 update to K-State Online. 

Setting default e-mail program

Has anyone figured out to change the default e-mail mail program in Excel 2007?  I am working with e-mail hyperlinks and it keeps trying to run outlook even though I need Groupwise.  I am running XP and all I have been able to find online involves changing the registry in Vista to solve this problem.

Excel treats e-mail hyperlinks just like any other program (Internet Explorer, Word, etc.) does, it is controlled by your operating system. To fix this problem, you need to change how your computer handles those hyperlinks. Do the following to change your default e-mail program:

1. Click the Windows Start button.
2. Click Control Panel or if you are using the Windows Classic start menu, point to Settings and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click Internet Options and then click the Programs tab.
4. In the E-mail list, select the e-mail program that you want to be the default.

Tech Breaks on K-State TV

K-State TV, managed by the Educational Communications Center, introduces three new 5-minute programs called Tech Breaks. These short segments each feature a different technology topic of interest. In April, Tech Break segments will discuss YouTube, Websites 2.0, and an interview with Harvard Townsend, K-State’s IT Security Officer, about Identity Theft. Townsend also addresses the recent K-State e-mail scams on a web-only Tech Break segment (visit www.k-state.tv to view).