Laptop theft is terrible, losing critical data is worse

For any person with a laptop computer, the ability to take the device virtually anywhere is what makes the product so appealing. It's also this portability that makes laptops more vulnerable than their desktop counterparts.

Theft is an issue everyone has to deal with at some point in time. For students, especially, making the transition to college offers greater life opportunities, but also comes with increased vulnerability to theft taking place, and no device is more susceptible than laptops.

Although manufacturers offer some insurance policies to combat theft, losing the data stored on the laptop is the most significant blow to the owner. It's easier to replace a computer itself than all the hard work, which, in some cases, may be years' worth.

Purchasing a laptop lock is one way to fight off criminals, but the best possible way to cope with losing a device is backing up all of the data. External hard drives protect against not only theft or misplaced laptops, but computer crashes as well. It's reassuring knowing that if the computer is rendered unusable or stolen, all the critical data is protected.