1. Why Find My iPhone Isn’t Enough

    August 22, 2014 ♥ Posted in: Nerd Topics by Kristina Horner

    Hello lovely blog readers! I’m back with another update on Device Theft Awareness Month for Absolute LoJack Uncovered, and I want to talk to you a little bit about why it’s so important to get professionals involved if and when your device goes missing.

    As I’ve been talking about device theft this month, I’ve had a number of people asking me why they need a service like Absolute LoJack when they’ve already installed Find My iPhone (or something similar) on their device.

    I’ll preface this post by saying that Find My iPhone is awesome… if you’ve just misplaced your phone. If you can use it to locate your phone on the floor of your bedroom, dropped in your backyard, stuffed between the drivers seat and wall of your car — awesome. Perfect.

    But what if your phone was stolen? What if an actual criminal is in the possession of your phone, and Find My iPhone directs you to an apartment across town? What are you supposed to do then? Drive over and knock on the door? Steal it back? This could lead you to an incredibly dangerous situation, and more importantly — if it’s identity theft they’re after, it also might even be too late.

    Here’s a list of reasons you should leave it to the professionals if your phone is stolen:

    1. You’ve already been stolen from, you don’t need to get hurt as well. The person who stole your phone is a criminal, and you have no way of knowing if they’ll use violence against you.

    2. You might identify the wrong person as the culprit, which could lead to a messy situation.

    3. You are not Veronica Mars. It’s possible that you could actually get in the way of a police investigation, allowing the criminal to continue what they’re doing without arrest.

    This is a very serious situation, one that caused a teen to lose her life just last month while attempting to recover a stolen phone. Here’s an article about what happened.

    Also, Find My iPhone doesn’t lock down your information the way Absolute LoJack can. Even if you have a password on your phone, it might not take a smart criminal very much time to crack that code and get to all of your information anyway. Same with your laptop – there’s way too much valuable information stored inside your laptop to consider giving criminals even the chance the snoop around.

    Absolute LoJack not only makes sure they cant access that information, it comes with a dedicated investigation team who both work to recover your device and enlist local law enforcement to bring down the criminal(s) behind the theft.

    How secure is your laptop? Find out here with this quick and fun quiz! And if you’re interested in Absolute LoJack, readers of my blog can get 30% a 1 year standard or premium subscription by using the code “UNCOVER30” at checkout. This offer is valid through August 31.

    Disclosure: This product has been gifted to me, however all opinions expressed in my review are my own.

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  2. Device Theft Awareness Month!

    August 6, 2014 ♥ Posted in: Nerd Topics, News by Kristina Horner

    Hello, lovely blog readers!

    Now, I don’t want to bum you out, but I do want to talk a little bit more about device theft. It’s a crappy thing that happens to a lot of people, but I’m partnering once again with Absolute LoJack Uncovered to help educate others on how and why this happens. Over the next month, I hope to help you learn how to take some relatively simple steps in your own life both to A) minimize your chances of device theft and B) make your device easier to track down and protect your identity if it does happen to you. And hopefully not make you fall asleep in the mean time with my stats – because this stuff is super important!

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    This past year year, 3.1 million Americans were victims of smartphone theft. To put that in perspective for you, that’s just the number for smartphone theft. Not laptops, not tablets, not even regular phones. I don’t even want to know what that number would be if we took the rest of those devices into account (although let’s be honest, why would anyone steal a flip phone these days?)

    Jokes aside, this is a much more serious issue than you may even realize. Maybe you think your neighborhood is safe enough, so this wont happen to you. That your coworkers are all great people, so you don’t even have to worry. Maybe you just know you’re more careful than those other guys. Of course device theft wouldn’t happen to you.

    But it does.

    With the value of phones and laptops at an all-time high, they’re hot commodities for thieves; easy to turn a pretty penny. But often, it’s not just about the device itself. A cell phone is easy to replace – expensive, but easy. You buy a new one. Likely you already have your info backed up to the cloud, so within an hour, everything is back to normal. Except that your old device contains more than enough information to get you up to your eyeballs in identity theft before you can even blink an eye.

    About a year ago my wallet was stolen and I was totally devastated. The whole first night after I realized it was gone I didn’t sleep a wink, I was up all night worrying. My credit cards, my driver’s license – such powerful tools in the hands of a stranger made me sick with worry.

    When I think about how much more information I have stored on my laptop and phone, I literally feel paralyzed with fear. I think about my choice not to password lock my devices because “it takes too long”. I think about how many websites store my passwords and credit card info. I think about my email inbox, my YouTube channel, my Twitter account. All things someone would have access to if they got their hands on my phone.

    It’s just – it can’t happen. That could never happen to me, it’s too horrible.

    In a world where it’s becoming increasingly more likely that something like this could happen, a program like Absolute LoJack is so, so important. Not only does protecting my devices with their software give me peace of mind, they’re really great about taking a hands on approach to spreading awareness about how to protect yourself and to take precautions, something not nearly enough of us do.

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    So this month, I’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes info I’m learning from their Investigation and Recovery Team (which is made up of forensic experts and reformed tech thieves – pretty cool, right?) to give you a better idea of what the inner workings of device theft look like.

    I know it sounds dry, but I’m going to try to make it fun. And hopefully by the end of it, you’ll have learned something as well. Let’s not become statistics. Let’s keep our devices safe.

    Follow #AbsoluteUncovered all month for more tips and stories from other bloggers! And, as a special gift to you, Absolute LoJack has offered a 30% discount to my readers on a 1-year Absolute LoJack Standard or Premium subscription. Just enter the code UNCOVER30 a checkout and the code will be automatically applied to your purchase.

    Disclosure: My partnership with Absolute LoJack includes a complimentary subscription and other consideration. All opinions, as always, are my own. 

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