Protecting Yourself From Theft
Why It's Important
Theft is usually a crime of opportunity. Don't make it easy for a thief to ruin your day. You should consider marking your personal property in a way that makes it easily identified. You might attach some colored tags to your back pack. Don't put any confidential information on the outside, however, where it can be seen by others. You could put your Email address or phone number someplace on the inside, out of sight. You can do the same with your laptop computer.
What You Can Do About It
Choosing strong passwords, backing up your data, and running a good anti-virus scanner are all important to safe computing, but don't forget your physical safety, too. A big part of physical security is simply being aware of where you are, who else is around you, and what is going on around you. Always, if you begin to feel unsafe, you should quietly leave the area and go somewhere well lit and where there are other people. Remember that any employee from Information Technology that comes to work on your computer should be wearing an IT ID badge.
Keep valuables out of sight and, if possible, locked up in a safe place. It's wise to only bring those valuables to campus that you might actually need and leave the others at home. You might want to invest in a lock for your laptop computer, but check out the consumer reports first. Some computer locks are better than others.
Finally, don't hesitate to call the Auraria Campus Police Department if you see something suspicious, like someone carrying computers out of an office or lab and loading them into a car. All employees of Information Technology wear a Metro State Information Technology photo ID badge in plain view. If someone shows up in your office claiming to be from IT or you see people carting computers out of an office or lab, they should be wearing their ID badge. If they are not, don't hesitate to call the Auraria Campus Police Department at 303-556-3271.
