Tie your mother down – and your laptop

Apologies to Freddie Mercury for appropriating his song title. I’m really talking about tying your laptop down.

I sometimes do my work in a public library. I have my laptop open, connected via the library’s free WiFi, and listening to disks from the library’s music collection. It’s quite enjoyable. A problem arises when I need to stretch my legs or use the washroom.

While the area of the library in which I work is a less busy area, with researchers and students sharing space, one must always be cautious with a laptop. Laptop thieves operate in many public spaces where laptops are common, such as coffee shops, schools and libraries. It takes only seconds for an experienced thief to lift a laptop and disappear.

I recently obtained a laptop cable lock. This is a brilliant accessory! It’s a lightweight gadget that provides the benefit of increased security against theft. It’s rather like a bicycle lock, a braided metal cable sheathed in vinyl, attached to a lock.

The lock has a tang that fits into the Kensington Security Slot, the metal-reinforced, oval hole that is standard on almost all laptops and portable electronics. A twist of the key locks the tang in place. The cable includes a small loop, allowing the cable to be wrapped around something fixed and back through the loop, to secure the device. At the library I loop the cable around part of the fixed work station, preventing the laptop’s removal.

Even with the lock, I wouldn’t leave the laptop unattended for a lengthy period, but it’s perfect for allowing a trip to the washroom or to retrieve more books from the stacks. A determined thief could still take the laptop, but he’s have to come with a strong cutter or some picking tool. It’s more likely that the thief would just move on to easier targets.

If you often leave your laptop in a public place, you may want to consider adding other layers of protection such as an alarm and disk encryption.

Kensington lock