I had my laptop stolen in a home burglary. It was probably teenagers but there have been a rash of them in the town. It was not password protected and there was a pdf copy of my federal tax return on it.
How do I go about protecting myself in case someone starts playing around with my SSN? I am going to check out LifeLock; anyone heard good/bad about them.
BTW, the new laptop is now password protected, I hope that is safe enough.
Is it encrypted? On my Mac all the important documents are stored on a large (30gb+) encrypted disc image. If it were to be stolen, I am only out the computer and a few days work as I do frequent backups offsite (also encrypted).
Can’t help on your current issue. However, depending on if and what version of Windows you are running, you can encrypt your hard drive using the ‘Bitlocker’. I’m sure there are freeware programs as well. Password protection is ok but encryption is orders of magnitude better.
Call the credit agencies and ask them. There’s a free fraud-prevention program you can enroll in (sort of a Lifelock-lite), and I’d imagine there’s something a little more beefy that has a fee attached to it.
No encryption. I was under the impression that this stuff couldn’t happen to me, only other people. It definitly opens your eyes up.
I am running Windows 7 on the new laptop.
I will call the credit agencies.
Sorry, not a answer to your actual question, but:
Do you mean the password that you type in when you start windows? That is not going to stop anyone from getting to the files on your computer. I can think of several ways to access files on a windows password protected PC, ranging from popping out the harddisk and putting it in another laptop, to using the Windows disk to reset the admin password.
The only way to ensure your data stays secure if stolen is to encrypt. Windows has its own encryption scheme - called bitlocker, but you might not have it if you have one of those “Home” versions. I’d recommend taking a look at TrueCrypt.
Takes a little knowhow to set it up correctly though.
When you get a social security number stolen you should put a “fraud alert” on your three credit reports. From a few years ago you can do this with an automated system and listen closely to the prompts 'cause you may have to do it again in awhile.
What this does is alert you everytime, within a set time period, that somene tried to access or open an account. It does NOT stop it, it just alerts you.
There is also a way to “freeze” your credit, but it’s a huge hassle to get done and and undone so you most likely would not want to do that.
Make sure you have a police report filed that CLEARLY states your social security number was on the computer. This will help (somewhat) if it does get used.
If you want maximum protection, close all your bank accounts and reopen them with different account numbers. Call in all your credit cards as stolen (even if they weren’t) so you get new credit card numbers.
You really can’t stop someone from trying to use the number but you can see when they’re using it if you’re careful.
Source: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/lifelock-accused-of-running-con-operation/#ixzz0nG0E8k8D
I did not know that. The pc is a home pc that will not have personal information on it except at tax time. I will look into the encryption protection and maybe save my personal stuff on a flash drive or the likes.
I filed a fraud alert to the credit agency. If you do it on one, they are required to notify the other two to do it also.
Flash drives are more easily misplaced/stolen than laptops. Encryption works on them too.
-Eternal Cynic