Sometimes stealing an entire computer may be too obvious or difficult, but stealing the components inside may be a lot easier. After all, anyone can tell when a computer suddenly disappears from a desk, but who will notice when a computer suddenly loses a hard drive, a video card, an external Zip drive, a trackball, or a memory chip? To stop someone from walking off with an external device, such as an external hard drive or computer speakers, you can glue a metal plate to each item, thread a computer security cable through these plates, and anchor everything to your computer.

Unlock your phone so that it works with all network operators when you travel or switch plans. It is your phone. Take control of it!. If you bought your phone from a mobile operator, chances are very good that it’s locked to the operator’s network. While the phone itself might be compatible with all GSM networks (i.e., a triband phone), it rejects SIM cards from other GSM operators. Locking imposes some limitations on how you can use your phone:

Establishing a Linux TCP/IP network requires two components of hardware: the network interface card (NIC) and the network medium. As with most things in life, you can opt to go for an inexpensive card and medium or spend lots more money for full-featured items. As the amount you spend increases, you get more functionality and benefits, although usually with diminishing returns for your dollar. Before deciding on the type of network interface cards to use (unless you already have some), you should decide on the type of cabling the network will use so the connectors on the network interface card can match. 10Base2 and 10Base-T are really the only two cables that you’ll want to consider. The alternatives are much more expensive or require special hardware.

Log files track the activity on a computer so administrators can see who has used the computer, what they did, how long they stayed connected, and where they came from. Since a log file can also record the activity of an unauthorized intruder, much like a surveillance camera can record a burglar breaking into a store, hackers look for the log file as soon as they get access into the computer. Script kiddies often delete the log files to prevent the administrator from seeing exactly what they did on the computer. Unfortunately, deleting the log file reveals the presence of an intruder as blatantly as using a stick of dynamite to get rid of a surveillance camera. The moment an administrator notices that someone has deleted the log file, he or she immediately knows that a hacker must be on the system.