Out of Office Experience

Looks like reports of stolen laptops are all the news on some blogs:

- Watch Out for Marco’s Stolen Macbook Pro!
- Crimes against the Pinoy techie: Stolen laptops, DSLRs, and other gadgets
- Be Paranoid: Car Robberies at The Podium and The Fort
- Stolen Laptops, Car Robberies in Ortigas Center, The Fort
- Laptop & Camera thefts are on the rise
- Watch Your Laptops! (New MO by Salisi Gang)

Check out Ateneo's Situation Report as well. The report mentions laptops and other gadgets around the Ateneo campus that are either stolen and/or returned every month or so.

Here are some tips to keep your laptop safe:

- Stolen Macbook Pro User Shows How to Avoid Laptop Theft
- How to Set Up a Laptop Security System

Another solution to look into is LoJack for Laptops. It's software you install that, if and when your laptop gets stolen, silently connects to the internet and contacts LoJack monitoring centers. Thing is, the service might not work in the Philippines.

There's also a similar but open source/free service to LoJack called Adeona. Unfortunately, according to the developers, the system is still buggy. Famous security blogger, Bruce Schneier, thinks it looks good though.

If your laptop does get stolen you can only hope that the thief will post and sell it online: Suspect in stolen laptop case nabbed by NBI agents.

If you're using azureus, utorrent, limewire or frostwire, it is a must to have PeerGuardian. Not only will it keep companies, schools and other organizations from tracking your downloading behavior, it will also block out some ads and spyware.

Once you've downloaded and installed PeerGuardian, be sure to visit i-Blocklist to add more IPs like the Philippine block list. Don't add too much though as doing so will slow down your system.

UPDATE: An article in PDI, Downloaders be warned, you're next, says that the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT), a consultant for the software organization Business Software Alliance (BSA), will start targeting individual downloaders.

The good folks over at GeniusHackers.Com, providers of windows tips and productivity hacks, are giving away free Rapidshare Premium accounts to bloggers and webmasters.

So, would you rather wait for 15 minutes or download stuff immediately? Go to GeniusHackers.Com now!

Ever wonder how a certain VP candidate and a Simple Life celebrity got their email hacked? Their "forgot your password" questions were too obvious.

You'll get very good tips on email security from the article Being Smart About Web Mail.

The article also alludes to Gmail as being more secure than Hotmail and Yahoo Mail.

How easy is it for someone to hack into your gmail account? Apparently it's pretty easy for someone with the right knowhow and equipment to steal your username and password. Watch the video from Defcon 2007 and view the slideshows from Wirelessly hacking Gmail and more - tutorial.

Having a firewall is one of the basics of protecting yourself when surfing public wifi. Two fo the best free firewalls are Comodo Firewall Pro and Online Armor Personal Firewall.

Visit Matousec's Firewall Challenge for a list of the best free and piad firewalls.

Using browsers with Tor makes surfing a bit more private and secure. Check out who uses Tor?

The easiest way to use Tor is to download browsers that incorporate it already: Tor, OperaTor and XeroBank browser.

Tor's not a foolproof solution though. Some hackers can use the network to steal usernames and passwords.

always use this address: https://mail.google.com. It'll make checking your email more secure. Without this extra layer of protection your emails can easily be intercepted and read by wifi snoops.

Lastly, go into your account settings. Under General > Browser Connection click on the "Always use https."

For more info check out Why You Should Turn Gmail’s SSL Feature On Now and Gmail HTTPS Doesn't Protect Account, New Setting Does.

Update
Be sure to check out Wired's Wiki on how to secure Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail.