http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35538 By Tony Dennis 05 November 2006 OVER THE course of three years the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) has admitted to losing 17 laptop PCs valued at a total of 13,000. The INQ's lost a couple of Psion Revos and several mobile phones. A spokesman for the FSA told the Sunday Telegraph that, "Our laptops have tight security, so there's no risk to security." Obviously the data was encrypted, then. But how do you accidentally lose so many laptops? The INQ has one answer you get on a train absolutely bladdered, fall asleep, leap off at your stop and hey presto! you lose a phone or a PDA. So how do you go about getting the phone or laptop back? As Michael Cain put it, "Not a lot of people know this but the Immobilise web site covers more than just mobile phones. It also covers laptops, cameras, iPODs, and pedal bikes. OK. So let's assume you know which train you lost your phone on. What next? Well, in our case you go onto the South West Trains web site and fill out the lost property form which is carefully hidden away behind the 'Contact Us' menu. Next problem. You ain't that organised. You never got around to keying *#06# into your GSM handset and taking a note of the handset's unique IMEI number. Normally that's a disaster since it's virtually impossible to tell handsets apart unless you have the IMEI number. But the INQ had kept the box the handset came in and good ole Nokia had printed its IMEI number on the side. So the INQ reported the lost phone to the local police station, Immobilise and South West Trains. If it ever does get handed in there's more good news. The Metropolitan Police have set up what it has called the National Mobile Phone Registry (NMPR). This searches: The Immobilise National Property Ownership Database, the National Mobile Phone Register, the Central Equipment Identity Register, the Stolen Equipment National Database, the Lost Equipment National Database, the MFound Recovered Property Database and The Mobile Phone Type Approval Code Database. Phew! Maybe the INQ might get that phone back after all! _________________________________ Visit the InfoSec News store! http://www.shopinfosecnews.org
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