Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Like others who have lost electronic items to thieves, Antonio Dominguez didn't report the theft of his iPod because he figured the chance of retrieval was slim.

April 28, 2005
Combating Gadget Theft
By JOHANNA JAINCHILL

As electronic products shrink in size, they grow in allure, not only to consumers but also to thieves. Lightweight and easy to conceal hand-helds, laptops and music players are sleek, valuable and often carried around as casually as a set of keys.

Because they can just as casually wind up in the wrong hands, a growing number of tracking-and-recovery services and other forms of coverage are available to help protect the gadget owner.

Only yesterday, the New York City police reported that a recent increase in subway crime was primarily attributable to thefts of portable devices, largely cellphones and iPods. But the phenomenon is not limited to the subway, of course - and is not always reflected in crime statistics.

Antonio Dominguez, 25, a construction project manager in New York whose iPod was stolen at his gym, was so upset that he joined a different gym. A sign in his new locker room announced that a member's iPod had been stolen there, too. Like many victims, Mr. Dominguez did not think of reporting the theft.

"I wouldn't even know where to start," he said. "It would be encouraging for me if I saw a large percentage of items returned to those who report it."

Indeed, only 6.7 percent of owners recovered their stolen hand-held computers, laptops or smart phones (cellphone organizers that are often connected to the Internet), according to a 2004 study by Brigadoon Software, which makes programs that help track and recover stolen devices. F.B.I. statistics indicate that only 3 percent of stolen laptops are recovered.

Homeowners and renters' insurance usually covers these items, but the deductibles - typically $500 to $1,000, according to the Insurance Information Institute - are generally more than the cost of the gadgets, except for computers.

There is also Safeware (www.safeware.com), a company offering theft and damage insurance for computers and smaller gadgets. In New York, a $2,000 laptop can be insured for $64 a year and a music player for as little as $52, both with no deductible.

A good option for cellphones and smart phones is coverage from the carriers, for about $5 a month on top of the service fee. Customers without insurance who need new phones are often surprised at what they cost. To sell service contracts, carriers offer phones at a sizable discount, but replacing them can cost hundreds of dollars.

Stolen items move quickly, with the help of the Internet. Property can be sold in online auctions or bazaars through unmonitored transactions. Stolen computers can fetch as much as $800, said Terrance Kawles, president of Brigadoon, and used iPods may be listed for upward of $200, with notations that they "must sell today" and for "cash only." Cellphones are sold for as little as $35 "unlocked," meaning they can be programmed with a new number and carrier.

Gideon Yago, 27, a writer and correspondent for MTV News, came home recently to discover that his locks had been broken and that a burglar had been in his apartment. He lost a G4 titanium PowerBook, an iPod, a mini DV camera and an external hard drive, in addition to jewelry and other items, worth about $10,000 altogether.

"The detective told me it's easier to solve a homicide than a burglary," he said, adding, "I'd give a nickel to anyone who could invent a LoJack system for computers," a reference to an automobile security device - a transmitter that can be activated by police to guide them to a stolen car.

It will cost more than a nickel, but such programs do exist. And Mr. Yago is not the only victim of theft who is not aware of them. Called track-and-recover software, the technology assumes that the stolen machine will eventually be hooked up to the Internet, and once online it is programmed to send a signal indicating its Internet Protocol address. That may allow the thief to be traced through an Internet service provider.

"If you have our software on your computer you have over a 90 percent chance of getting it back," said Mr. Kawles of Brigadoon (www.pcphonehome.com), which makes track-and-recover programs for computers called PC PhoneHome and MacPhoneHome.

According to the Computer Security Institute and the annual Computer Crime and Security Survey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, laptop theft losses increased to more than $6.7 million in 2004. The survey looks at corporations, which are hit the hardest by computer device theft.

"It's hell to call your customers and tell them their personal information has been compromised," said Nick Magliato, chief executive of Trust Digital, a company selling mobile security software to corporations.

Trust Digital and similar companies produce software that protects information on laptops and devices like smart phones by either encrypting the data, locking the device or remotely wiping out everything on it. For companies whose employees carry sensitive digital information, the gadget itself is relatively disposable. It is the information that needs protection.

If a gadget is lost, or stolen and then discarded, services exist to help find the owner should a good Samaritan come upon it and seek to return it. Companies like StuffBak, Trackitback and SmartProtec register the electronic items and tag them with labels and serial numbers to help people return them and to deter thieves, who might think that indelibly labeled items will be hard to resell. These services vary in the reward offered and the costs to the owner.

Caution, of course, can be the best protection against theft. At the University of Rochester, Walter Mauldin, director of security services, noted that after an uptick in robberies in 2003, people became more attentive to their belongings. In 2004, the total number of campus thefts decreased.

"People are aware that taking care of these items means more than doing it occasionally," he said. "Like taking care of a baby, it's got to be a regular thing."

But many owners of portable gadgets feel that much of their appeal is taking them everywhere, with little thought.

"I'm definitely more careful now than I used to be, but basically I throw it all in my bag and don't worry about it," said Casey Brennan, 26, a freelance writer in New York whose MP3 player and cellphone were taken along with the other contents of an unwatched handbag. Ms. Brennan, who calls herself an electronics fanatic, routinely carries around a Sidekick smart phone, her second iPod, a digital voice recorder, a cellphone and a G4 iBook laptop.

The risk of theft, she said, is "the price I pay to need to have all these tiny little gadgets."

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- posted by Michael P. Whelan @ 12:26 PM