View Full Version : Just got robbed
i come into my office building at 7:50am and i am waiting for the lift. when it gets to the ground floor our agencies janitor comes out and quickly tells me something about a guy who came in, left his number and took 2 laptops nearest to the door. so we quickly try to find the guy but he had disappeared.
we get upstairs to the office and the janitor who doesnt speak english very well tried to explain what happened.
basically our janitor opens our office at 7:45am and starts doing some quick morning cleaning. while he was in the kitchen he heard someone outside. he goes out and sees a guy unplugging 2 laptops. when the janitor asked him what he is doing the guy replied saying he was calling out for someone and no one answered and that he was here to pick up these 2 laptops. the janitor asked for the guys business card or phone number, the guy just wrote down a name and number and took off. i called the number up, it was a wrong number.
no one in the office knows anything about this. the laptops were not scheduled to be serviced or anything.
we just got robbed. this happened like 30 minutes ago.
Quagmire
2004-08-24, 00:35
That sucks. What kind of laptops are they? Macs or windows? either way I hope that b**tard gets caught and thrown in jail for 30 years.
they are Dell laptops. Only the design lab has macs and they are powermacs. but the rest of the office is pcs.
alcimedes
2004-08-24, 00:43
how important/sensitive was the data on them, and do you have backups?
depending on those answers, this is either really bad or a bump in the road.
the date on them was not important since all company files stored on server. the laptops mostly has personal info and didnt belond to management.
we called the building security and asked them if we could view the tapes from the cameras. they told us the office that has the tapes inside open at 9am, which is in a few minutes but that the camera grabs 1 picture every 10 minutes. also said there was only 1 camera and that the rest are fake.
1 picture every 10 minutes!! how crap is that?
we called the cops now, would be cool to see how CSI: Kuwait works. will take pics with my cam and show u guys.
ThunderPoit
2004-08-24, 01:07
one real camera in an entire building capturing 1 frame every 10 min? sounds like you guys need some new security as well
its actually a shopping mall with offices on top. so u would expect more cameras u know..
its 2:30PM and CSI: Kuwait still havent shown up!
Windswept
2004-08-24, 08:09
IMO, this robbery was *obviously* an inside job. Someone who works in the building passed on information about a) the time when the janitor opens the office, and b) the time when the first employee usually arrives to your office.
For the robbery to occur in the minute or two after the janitor opens the door, and in the few minutes before any employee arrives; and for the janitor to be conveniently in another room during the exact few minutes; and for someone to have prior knowledge that two easily-carried/easily-stolen laptops were near the door....naw...it's just all too perfectly set up to be a chance happening.
A friend or acquaintance of someone who works in the building has done this, with the assistance of the inside person. That janitor (or another janitor in the building) is the most obvious inside informer, of course. The police are probably in on it too, since they have not bothered to show up for an entire work day. :) Okay, so I'm paranoid. That doesn't change the fact that this was an inside job. Right?
The janitor's standard procedure should be to re-lock the door behind himself when coming into an office to do work outside of business hours, especially if an office is easily accessible to people just walking in off the street, or in this case, the mall.
psmith2.0
2004-08-24, 08:18
Where's Andy Sipowicz (http://a.abc.com/primetime/nypdblue/images/gallery/2002/nypd_franz_V.jpg) when you need him?
"Listen, asshole...janitor or not, you're not leaving this room until you give it up. Get in front of this now and that'll show the D.A. some cooperation...".
:D
ok 4:30PM and CSI: Kuwait havent shown up. I guess two laptops getting stolen is not important enough. I don't know what the cops in kuwait do, we dont really have crime here u know.
We dont have any suspects but I think management is looking in the direction of a recently fired employee.
Now strange thing is the whole incident doesnt make sense. This is not how you would steal. If i had come in just 2 minutes earlier i would have been able to catch the theif walking out with the laptop. Its too risky, plus secretary usually comes in early but today she came in 5 minutes after me. guy was very lucky.
This wasnt a museum with an expensive painting so i dont think it was actually studied and organized with perfect timing. Not only that but the building has a side exit and entrance right next to the elevator yet the thief walked out from the main entrance AND said good morning to the security. If it was me i would have slipped out the side door.
I personally believe it was a walk-by stealing. The person probably came up looking for something or someone on our floor by mistake, saw no one was in the office, saw 2 laptops next to the door, decided to risk it and make off with them, janitor suprised him, he gave an excuse and then he left. he probably did something like this before and this is why he didnt hesitate. then walking out from the main door not the side door just proves the person is not smart enough to know the risks of getting caught stealing like that.
That sucks bad. Carol is probably correct, however, at the risk of sounding like a jerk I have to ask: why in God's name aren't all of your computers hooked up to a Kensington Security lock or something similar? They cost like $20 I think. Pays to have them in any office environment....
PS - Sipowicz is the KING!
we are only 15 employees, at a advertising agency in KUWAIT. we dont have crime here! they will probably write about this in the papers tomorrow.. not being sarcastic i am serious. i have seen guys park their Lamborgini's and Ferraris with the keys inside and the car running then pop into the bank. its a very safe country.
we are only 15 employees, at a advertising agency in KUWAIT... its a very safe country.
Sorry but if someone else doesn't do it I will... Yea, it's safe NOW! (that the lunatic from the north-west has been eradicated...)
;)
Dave
psmith2.0
2004-08-24, 12:08
Take it from me, Dave...don't waste your breath. It doesn't matter, apparently. ;)
[snip]
we dont have crime here!
[snip]
Guess you can't say that anymore huh? :p
lol, well after todays incident i am now head of security.. or something lke that. i am incharge now of finding digital security cams and archive 3 days worth of video onto the server, plus sent my boss to kensington.com to get some locks for all the computers including our powermacs. also asked a friend of mine who is system admin at a local isp to resetup our network and protect it since at the moment its very unsecure and can be easily accessed by the local building network.
anything else we need to do?
psmith2.0
2004-08-24, 12:40
Cool. At least they've learned from this and are putting things into place to make sure it doesn't happen again! It often takes a "worst case scenario" for some people or companies to be nudged into action, unfortunately.
The cameras, monitoring and Kensington locks sound like a great start to making your place a little more secure. Good luck!
bassplayinMacFiend
2004-08-24, 12:50
lol, well after todays incident i am now head of security.. or something lke that. i am incharge now of finding digital security cams and archive 3 days worth of video onto the server, plus sent my boss to kensington.com to get some locks for all the computers including our powermacs. also asked a friend of mine who is system admin at a local isp to resetup our network and protect it since at the moment its very unsecure and can be easily accessed by the local building network.
anything else we need to do?
Radar tracking ceiling mounted gun turrets? Plant RFID tags in all employees so if someone without an ID comes in, BAM! robber stew all over the floor!
what about using those security cable locks like they use on some laptops in the computer stores. I don't know what you could attach it to in an office. but i'm sure it would work for most moron criminals. just don't leave the keys in your desk...
its 12:30pm the NEXT day. CSI: Kuwait just showed up. Will try to sneak in some pics using my PDA and post them here.
ok here is the picture i promised you all!
http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.san/43/IMG_383843/_0825%5CT40408250840281.jpg
notice no gloves and his left hand is on the evidence. they were terrible collecting forensics.
btw my moblog url is http://usurp.textamerica.com
drewprops
2004-08-25, 10:57
Is he dusting for prints or trying to figure out what the last person who sat there had for lunch by tasting the crumbs? Please update to let us know what kind of security systems are attractive...BUT, as the new Head of Security it would behoove you NOT to tell the internet what measures you take to protect the place.
For real. Loose lips sink Dell laptops.
Those jerks. Only two or three police for 2 stolen laptops?! :eek:
Really, I'm not sure what you expect to happen. Basically, you aren't getting them back, unless by some dumb luck. What is it...90% of all crimes are solved within the first 72 hours? Or is it murders? Well either way, it's not looking good for you.
Is he dusting for prints or trying to figure out what the last person who sat there had for lunch by tasting the crumbs? Please update to let us know what kind of security systems are attractive...BUT, as the new Head of Security it would behoove you NOT to tell the internet what measures you take to protect the place.Security by obscurity is very poor security. Of course there should be *some* security measures that no one knows before they try to rob the place.. but it's fine to tell about most of them, especially when usurp's not a security pro and could use some advice.
The place needs access control. The door should not be open when the office is not supervised. Do customers need to be able to just "pop in"? If so, consider only keeping the door open for customers after there are more people in the office, like 9.00-15.00. If not, the door should be shut all day.
The computer locks are good for stopping grab-and-run theft, but since there are many more things to steal besides computers and it's hard to lock everything down, it would be best to concentrate on more preventive measures. Access control limits outside risk, cameras and surveillance do the same to a degree and even deter inside men.
if we were in the process of designing the next iPod then I would definetly get computer locks, motion dectors, security alarms etc.. but we are a small marketing and advertising agency with around 15 employees...
first "securit measure" is definetly to have the door closed and lock while janitor is alone. i dont know how janitors are in the states but here in kuwait they are ordered around all the time and have no rights. This is why we are not blaming him 100% for what happened. He is used to taking orders, lacks decent communication and is left out of the loop all the time. It was a mistake by management to put the janitor incharge of the office when no one is there. Too much to handle.
Second thing is definetly install some security cameras to counter the lack of security by the building.
Thirdly we will be getting locks for all the computers. 30$ could have prevented the laptops theft.
Finally got my friend to come in and check out our network. He will be securing it and setting up a backup system for all the computers. We not only lost 2 computers we also lost information which we will never be able to retrieve. One of the computers was for the Production Officer and contained all his emails and contacts with suppliers world wide. Info is gone now.
Anyway this whole CSI: Kuwait experience was cool though. I watched CSI: Miami yesterday (the episode where CSI: Miami meets CSI: New York - Episode 23 Season 2) and i can't wait till they start broadcasting CSI: New York here, all my tivo will be recording it seems is CSI and Seinfeld episodes...
You'll only be recording Seinfeld episodes until November 23rd!!!
First three seasons of Seinfeld are being released on DVD on 23rd.
shatteringglass
2004-08-26, 15:46
That's terrible. I'm sorry about what happened.
I didn't know Kuwait was so safe. Here, it really pales in comparison, like everything is bolted down or secured with multiple locks.
Speaking of CSI: NY, it's one of the few TV spinoffs that I'm actually looking forward to. Hey, I have to watch something when Six Feet Under isn't on...
Gee, that sucks. ..
Sorry to hear it. ..
PS. CSI rocks. . . but I like Cold Case better.
vBulletin® v3.6.4, Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.