Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Safety with mobile devices

In the recent couple of months I have been noticing something that is of major concern for me and it is the number of people that leave their mobile devices just sitting unattended in public places.

One concern is when people leave their computers on a table in a fast food table and it is not secured and it is left logged in to what they were doing. The person then goes and orders something and their back is to their table so the device is totally left unattended and someone else could easily walk off with it. This situation as also happened at restaurants with people going to the washroom and leaving their device totally visible while they are away from their table. The most recent instance was at a car dealership and the person left their laptop open and went to deal with a service individual. People need to realize that by leaving their devices such as laptops unattended they are putting their device possible into the hands of a thief.

The other devices that are quite often left unattended are the mobile devices (tablets and phones). These are the items that I would really be taking with me when I left a table because these are so easily put into a pocket or into a jacket.

Maybe people are just a lot more trusting than I am because I won't leave any of those unattended out in public. If my computer is on a table and I have to leave it even for a second it will be secured with my security cable to ensure no one can walk off with it. My mobile device is always on my hip when I leave a table so that something that I don't have to worry about being stolen. I have also seen ladies get money out of their wallet and then leave their purse at a table unattended which really bothers me.

The safety of your personal property is very important because it is so easy for people if they have some information from your portable device to possible steal your identity. For a speed bump I also have a password on both my laptop and my mobile device so that it is harder to get into it. Of course the password is just a speed bump but better than nothing. Having different passwords on your portable devices also means someone would need multiple passwords to get into your devices.

The other thing that I do not do on my laptop is save any passwords on websites. I feel that not saving those passwords if my computer was broken into no one could get into my bank account or any of my other applications that require passwords to open them.

By taking just a little bit of time and effort you can make it less of an attraction for your mobile device  to be taken when your back is turned. The basic step is if you are out in public and alone take your device with you when you leave the table so that no one will be tempted to walk off with it.

1 comment:

  1. What also helps is a security cable to prevent an easy grab and run when hooked up correctly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Security_Slot

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