UK businesses and public organizations have been officially advised to bolt-down computer equipment, avoid displaying IT equipment in public places, and generally do a better job of tracking and recording their IT investment if they don’t want to lose it to thieves.
The recommendations are published in Pulling The Plug on Computer Theft, a report from the United Kingdom Home Office, which aims to highlight the growing problem of computer theft in the UK. According to the report, 18% of all non-residential burglaries now target computer equipment, with an average haul costing owners 2,616 pounds ($4,191).
The report finds that 25% of UK computer crime constitute repeat offences against businesses that have already been robbed, yet still persist in failing to restrict public access to areas where computers are visible, or to move computers out of ground floor rooms offering only plate glass barriers to the street outside.
Thanks to this generosity, says the report, computer thieves are able to case premises easily, compiling shopping lists of products that are most in demand in the marketplace. Once these lists have been compiled, and the unsecured equipment removed, most thieves then appear to find a ready market for them in the classified columns of free advertising journals and trade magazines.
In addition to doing more to prevent illegal entry to premises containing computers, and doing more to make the removal of computers more difficult, the report urges owners to make detailed records of serial numbers and other identifying features to aid in identifying and recovering stolen goods.
