REPORTS

Anti-theft protection: Make life harder for the light-fingered

By Christoph Schön
17.02.2009, 15:00

Questions about appropriate anti-theft protection arise at the latest when your own equipment is used at a LAN party. Under your own roof, it is generally the entire apartment that is insured rather than your individual possessions. Thins are somewhat different in public buildings, schools, companies, electrical stores or Internet cafés. Without suitable security measures, it would be easy to steal a monitor, projector or desktop PC. But how does this anti-theft protection look in principle?

Naturally, every object can be protected appropriately with motion sensors, alarm systems and security staff and a house can be transformed into Fort Knox accordingly. That is not what this article is about. We want to show you how you can protect your monitor from spontaneous access using minimal resources.

The easiest way to protect your monitor takes the form of various steel cables which are attached to the device itself and to a fixed point. In specialised retail, various solutions are available. The best-known security method comes from manufacturer Kensington. A large number of monitors already have the Kensington slot, which is suitable for anti-theft protection with a Kensington lock for mobile hardware such as laptops, projectors and LCDs. With this solution, the cable is secured to a fixed point such as a radiator or the leg of a desk. The lock goes into the Kensington slot and is locked with the key.

LCD saver from Kensington. (Photo: Kensington)

The disadvantage of this type of lock lies in the fact that it is significant whether the securing of the socket in the monitor is made of plastic or metal. The second variant would be significantly better, since in the plastic variant, the lock can be broken relatively easily out of its surrounding. However, the 3 mm steel cable also does not represent serious security if suitable tools (bolt cutters) are used. Nonetheless, this solution makes it makes theft considerably harder.

However, even if your monitor does not have a Kensington slot, the Kensington company still has a solution for you. Special attachments are secured to the object using a special adhesive. Afterwards, various components such as monitor, printer and are connected to each other, making it harder to carry them off.

Anti-theft protection for up to three models. (Photo: Kensington)

Another Kensington system that can be used is the "MicroSaver Alarmed Lock" (lock with alarm function). This can also be used for any device. The alarm is set off as soon as the cable us cut and can be heard up to 50 feet away. A practical aspect is that the alarm can be switched off when it is not needed.

Anti-theft protection with alarm function. (Photo: Kensington)

If you do not have a Kensington slot pre-installed on your device, you can do it yourself using a special adhesive and a socket.

More information can be found at: www.kensington.com.

Plastic plate with special adhesive. (Photo: Kensington)

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