Security Marking

[OverWorked]

We've had a spate of computer and projectors stolen from schools in our area recently.

 

The police have been round advising schools about security and equipment marking. They've recommended two products, about the same, involving stenciling indelible paint. They are Selectamark and Idmark.

 

Selectamark

ID Mark

 

We've used black and UV 'security' pens but they rub off over time.

 

I've seen these products in previous work places before I worked in IT. They're ugly but the do the job.

 

Has anyone any ideas or recommendations on these two products?

 

Thanks.

[russdev]

we have uv pen and then eitching kit

 

next we got design department to crete a stencil for the eitcher

 

 

russ

[alan-d]

We use Selectamark - very effective in that it does not come off. However it has not stopped thieves breaking in and helping themselves.

 

It seems they just put the insides into new cases. I'd like to see what they do to the monitors though.

[OverWorked]

What's the etching kit like? Will it do plastic or metal? - I'm thinking of PC cases and most hardware.

[russdev]

yes kit came from espo but can get them almost anyway it is electrical and does all surfaces...

 

the only bad point due to nature of them can give you arm ache if use constently for few hours so do it in short burst is best..

 

Russ

[MkII]

Hate those etchers - messy and a lot of fuss.

 

We've got a small dremel and use the engraving tool to do it. More fun and makes that annoying noise like a dentists drill! :twisted:

[russdev]

yes mark sounds like what we have got here i call it etchers but yes engraving tool yes does sound like a dentist drill

 

russ

[Andrew_C]

Selectamark is OK, but...

 

Far better on plastic.

The goo goes off quite quickly once the tube is open, and doesn't last forever when not open.

"Smudges" on metal, and only seems to etch the paint. Claims to be OK.

Any marking can cause 'issues' if a return / replace agreement in place with supplier.

Stains your fingers too!

[Guest metalmonkey]

I agree with Andrew.

 

Selectamark is good on Plastic, but not on metals. Also, on dark coloured materals like TV's its sometimes hard to see unless you have it in the right light.

 

The goo is very expensive (£5 a tube IIRC) for such a little tube and as Andrew says, it'll go off very quickly, but we also find, un-opened tubes go off, and when opened, they contain just air!

 

I always found it amusing they provided medical wipes with the goo. Its like providing plasters with a knife set!

 

We've now opted for the Engraver. Steady hand needed, but no need to wait for it to dry like Selectamark.

[Andrew_C]

The wipes are to de-grease the area you're going to etch, and it makes a huge difference too. Not only is the goo expensive but the stencils cost c£1.00 each. We had some yellow goo, and never worked out what that was for, it might have been metal. As our insurers have slapped on a £1k excess, I've sort of given up on it as a scheme.

 

If I really don't want something "redeployed" I drill holes in it and fix it to something with steel wire rope. Wouldn't stop someone determined and 'tooled up' but I no longer have to search all the classrooms for missing video recorders "just borrowed for an hour". :x

[russdev]

Selectamark is OK, but...

 

Far better on plastic.

The goo goes off quite quickly once the tube is open, and doesn't last forever when not open.

"Smudges" on metal, and only seems to etch the paint. Claims to be OK.

Any marking can cause 'issues' if a return / replace agreement in place with supplier.

Stains your fingers too!

 

but problem is if not makred both by uv and visably marked then not covered by issurence...

 

I would do the visable marking on bottom of the pcs...

 

Russ

[Andrew_C]

We went for marking in the most visable bit we could. Makes no difference on the recovery front, but it is less "atractive" to the thief if it is going to cost time / effort to clean up. I've used yellow paint pens on black stuff, BIG letters too!

 

Our insurers don't mention UV marking, but as they cover practically nothing anyway (as is the way of insurers), why bother?

 

(Thinks... Better check with the Bean-Counters tomorrow what the situation would be if lots of kit was nicked in one go would be...)

[OverWorked]

Thanks, everyone. A mixed response. I understand what was said about problems with returns. I've seen warnings in waranties about marked stuff not being accepted.

 

I'll try either Selectamark or IDmark as a trial. See how it goes.

[e_g_r]

We use DNA Smart water on all of our kit, dosn't leave a visible mark but excellent for id of recovered kit.

 

We also have extensicve CCTV (for the kids protection) with which we have caught 2 out of the last 3 sets of intruders. Its funny watching them go around the school with their hoodies up, only to be caught unawaress by some well placed camara's.

 

The last group (4 toe rags who have hit most of the schools in the area) are all on trial this month. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Sirbendy]

We do the engrave/uv method. We've not had any machines nicked in 12 months or more..but we have had a projector taken. Someone waited for all 5 of us to leave, got in, found the way to the "old" ICT suite and removed the projector before the caretakers locked up.

 

We all reckon ex student. I've been here 5 years and it doesn't ring a bell. He must have been here, as it's not marked how to get to IT, and he used the back way-hard to do unless you knkow the building, and a hell of a risk to take on the offchance.

 

I've got him on our CCTV, wandering around the new suites (from his behaviour, they were new to him-12 months old), and trying to get into our office. Then her looks up, sees the cameras, and BANG!, He's off and running.

[SteveT]

DNA Smart water has been recommended to us by police so we are planning to go with it. UV markers apparently can be cleaned off using commonly available household chemicals and also wear off in time.

[SteveT]

http://www.smartwater.com/

[luke213]

We use Alphadot in school. It very easy to apply and all the police stations in the country should have an Alphadot reader.

 

The website for it is http://www.alphadot.it/

 

Gives you details and how to buy.

[Michael]

We use Selectamark at my school. Computer screens either CRT or TFT are definitely worth marking as it's not really possible to re-package a computer screen - but as already mentioned, marking computer units is a little pointless I agree. In saying that I have done it just to please the head, despite the fact it's not unknown that any thief will simply buy a cheap mATX/ATX case, format the hard drive and you're away. Sad, but true unfortunately.

[plexer]

We also use smartwater easy to apply shake the bottle and brush it on. Put the stickers all over the place and put big ones up in highly visible places so thieves know you use it.

 

Ben

[OverWorked]

I bought the IDMark 4mm stencil system. I'm quite pleased with it.

 

You're right about the UV marker pen being easily removed. I used the alcohol wipes that came with the IDMark kit to clean plastic laptop cases and it brought the UV pen off no problem!

[palmer_eldritch]

We use selectamark here and haven't had any thefts (touch wood and all that) of whole machines / monitors. The last thing we had was a pair of nerks pinching RAM sticks but we got them with a portable webcam.

[pete]

We use stencils and blue goo from ESPO, but it's not that great - can be scraped off with a razor blade and a bit of patience and doesn't work on metal.

 

I've been looking at the dremel alternative, but am leery of skidding it across shiny new kit.

[john]

We use a branding iron so brand the machines, but are hitting the problem that for insurance, we really need to security mark, and they advise more than just UV pen, for which I agree, but then for swap out warranties EG TFTs the companies are not accepting the returns as they are branded, and one company has said out warranties are null and void, even for using UV pen on them, so we have not branded any of our new kit, or UV'd it.

 

We also engrave things with an Acme Dremel, 9.99 multitool Practiced on an old AT keyboard, and after 10 goes, was perfect, I labled up the little memory sticks perfect, so that works well

 

I have used the selectamark in my last place and it was good, but the newer blue gunk seemed to not "stick" as the original older stuff, its almost as if its had one of its chemicals removed or something. If I was changing my system I may try those micro dot setups, or use Selectamark again and hope the gunk has got better again.

[steve]

Saw this article on the BBC site.

 

Looks like North Yorks is losing a massive amount of kit each year.

 

Anyone able to give me a rough idea on cost of protecting 100 PC's with SmartWater?

 

How do people using it go about stopping themselves getting covered in the stuff when moving / cleaning kit?