Identity Theft Expert and MyLaptopGPS: SafeTags™; and SafeRegistry™ Might Have Prevented Recently Reported Laptop Losses from Government Agencies

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(BOSTON, Mass. – April 17, 2008 – IDTheftSecurity.com) Late last month, reports revealed the loss of laptop computers from various U.S. and U.K. government agencies over years of time. Any organization with a sprawling inventory of mobile computing equipment must secure the gear with high-tech, said Robert Siciliano, a widely televised and quoted personal security and identity theft expert. He pointed leaders in business and elsewhere to MyLaptopGPS™, whose technology not only tracks and retrieves stolen laptops, but also provides organizations with SafeRegistry™, a comprehensive system for inventorying fleets of computers, and affixes to each of them SafeTags™, police-traceable property tags.

“Laptop computers go missing all the time,” said Siciliano. “For large organizations, the losses can occur en masse or slowly, over time. Because of this, any organization must secure its fleets of mobile electronics with technology designed to prevent laptop loss and to minimize the fallout if those losses and thefts nevertheless occur.”

CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com and a member of the Bank Fraud & IT Security Report‘s editorial board, Siciliano leads Fortune 500 companies and their clients in workshops that explore consumer education solutions for security issues. A longtime identity theft speaker and author of “The Safety Minute: 01,” he has discussed data security and consumer protection on CNBC, on NBC’s “Today Show,” FOX News, and elsewhere.

News reports in late March indicated that government agencies in both the U.S. and the U.K. discovered the loss of entire fleets’ worth of laptop computers and other mobile electronics from their inventories:

  • Hundreds of laptop computers, mobile phones, and other portable electronics are missing from various government agencies in the U.K., including the nation’s Ministry of Defence, announced a March 30th news release that extensively quoted an SNP Westminster Consumer Affairs spokesperson on the matter. The items included “591 laptops, 416 phones, and 642 other pieces of computer equipment (such as discs and chips),” reported the Scotsman News the same day.
  • Over the past five years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has lost 230 laptop computers reported The Washington Times on March 29th. For the vast majority of the missing machines, it was unclear to DEA, according to the report, how the equipment had gone missing and whether the computers’ hard drives contained sensitive data.

“The consequences of so many lost computers and data-storing electronics are far-reaching and potentially catastrophic,” said Dan Yost, chief technology officer at MyLaptopGPS. “Sensitive phone numbers, unique computer data records and other untold bits of private information, all the familiar casualties of the theft and loss of mobile electronics, can help thieves commit wide-scale fraud and steal identities. But simple and affordable safeguards can easily prevent these scenarios altogether.”

MyLaptopGPS offers SafeRegistry™, a comprehensive system for inventorying entire fleets of mobile computers, as well as a full line of highly renowned SafeTags™, which are police-traceable property tags designed to secure iPods, cell phones, BlackBerry devices, and other mobile property.

Along with this, MyLaptopGPS also combines Internet-based GPS tracking — which, for tracking and retrieving stolen laptops, is more effective than other forms of GPS — with other functionalities to secure mobile computing devices. Users launch MyLaptopGPS’ features remotely, protecting data even while the machine is in a criminal’s hands. Once connected to the Internet, the software silently retrieves, and then deletes, files from machines as it tracks the stolen or missing hardware — at once returning the data to its rightful owner and removing it from the lost computer.

Readers may download a demo of MyLaptopGPS. A white paper is also available.

At its website, MyLaptopGPS keeps a running tally, the Realtime Estimated Damage Index (REDI), of publicized laptop and desktop computer theft and losses. The REDI also assesses those losses’ associated costs by drawing on estimates from the FBI and elsewhere reflecting the likelihood that identity theft and other crimes will occur whenever a laptop is misplaced or stolen. On April 16, that tally was 227, and cost associated with it $344,788,505, an amount suggesting that the year-over-year increase in the financial consequence of laptop thefts will exceed 100 percent.

According to USA Today, theft of personal data more than tripled in 2007. Readers may view a video of Siciliano below discussing this news on the new “FOX Business” network. To learn more about identity theft, a major concern for anyone who’s lost a laptop computer to thieves, readers may go to video of Siciliano at VideoJug.

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About MyLaptopGPS

Since 1984, Tri-8, Inc. (DBA MyLaptopGPS.com) has specialized in complete system integration. From real-time electronic payment processing software to renowned mid-market ERP implementations, the executive team at MyLaptopGPS has been serving leading enterprises and implementing world-class data systems that simply work. With MyLaptopGPS™, Tri-8, Inc. brings a level of expertise, dedication, knowledge and service that is unmatched. MyLaptopGPS™’s rock-solid performance, security, and reliability flow directly from the company’s commitment to top-notch software products and services for almost 25 years.

About IDTheftSecurity.com

Identity theft affects us all, and Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com and member of the Bank Fraud & IT Security Report‘s editorial board, makes it his mission to provide consumer education solutions on identity theft to Fortune 500 companies and their clients. A leader of personal safety and security seminars nationwide, Siciliano has been featured on “The Today Show,” CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, “FOX News,” “The Suze Orman Show,” “The Montel Williams Show,” “Maury Povich,” “Sally Jesse Raphael,” “The Howard Stern Show,” and “Inside Edition.” The Privacy Learning Institute features him on its Website. Numerous magazines, print news outlets, and wire services have turned to him, as well, for expert commentary on personal security and identity theft. These include Forbes, USA Today, Entrepreneur, Woman’s Day, Mademoiselle, Good Housekeeping, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, United Press International, Reuters, and others.

For more information, visit Siciliano’s Web site, blog, and YouTube page.

The media are encouraged to get in touch with any of the following individuals:

John Dunivan
MyLaptopGPS Media Relations
PHONE: (405) 747-6654 (direct line)
jd@MyLaptopGPS.com
www.MyLaptopGPS.com

Robert Siciliano, Personal Security Expert
CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com
PHONE: 888-SICILIANO (742-4542)
FAX: 877-2-FAX-NOW (232-9669)
Robert@IDTheftSecurity.com
www.idtheftsecurity.com

Brent W. Skinner
President & CEO of STETrevisions
PHONE: 617-875-4859
FAX: 866-663-6557
BrentSkinner@STETrevisions.biz
www.STETrevisions.biz