Airport Theft Worsened by Terror Checks?
by matt @ 6:04 pm. Blogged under Travel / Holidays
A few years ago, a colleague of mine had his laptop computer stolen from his suitcase on a flight into the UK via Heathrow airport. Since then I’ve been extra cautious about what I put into suitcases destined for the main baggage hold. I’m not sure I would ever have considered it safe to put expensive electrical equipment into my main luggage anyway, but this example reinforced my usual pessimistic instincts.
In June I spoke to a retired baggage handler who had many tales of what went on behind the baggage carousels at Heathrow airport in the 1970s; theft of passenger items or duty free goods wasn’t at all unusual. So when the government introduced new security rules on hand luggage last week, forcing anything other than wallets and passports to go into the main hold, it looked like a recipe for disaster. It is now reported by the BBC that 10,000 cases have gone missing inside five days.
Travellers from airports were forced to send everything from mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, Ipods and even their keys to the mercy of worldwide baggage handlers. With 10,000 suitcases missing it is understandable that some people are missing a great deal; arriving home without clothes, keys to their cars, and even being forced to smash windows to get into their now inaccessible homes. Clearly this isn’t all theft, a large proportion of this will be down to some ‘confusion’ with the terror checks I suspect, but I’ll bet some more unscrupulous baggage handlers at airports across the world thought it was Christmas with all the electricals coming in from British airports.
Now that the security rules have been relaxed I think we’re safe to take laptops with us again in hand luggage. But if you are ever forced to place your laptop computer into your main suitcase here are some sensible precautions:
> Prepare laptop computers ‘for a kicking’. Encase your laptop in bubble-wrap. Place it inside a traditional laptop bag and place that inside your main suitcase. This helps keep your laptop inconspicuous to baggage handlers.
> Use a luggage lock which will act as a deterrent to airport theft and may discourage a criminal from targeting your suitcase in the first place.
> Back-up your data before flying. Since the information or knowledge that is stored on the computer is often more valuable than the computer.
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September 24th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
It seems this blog entry has got US security experts discussing baggage handler vulnerabilities, but within the context of transporting firearms! Not an issue for us Brits but an interesting thread:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/09/expensive_camer.html
November 20th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
I bought myself a fabulous new camera to take with me to Thailand this summer, only to find it would have to go ultra economy in my rucksack in the hold. It didn’t… a couple of years back when I was recruiting in South Africa my coleague lost his laptop and projector from his luggage, so I wasn’t having any of that. I did however have a great time collecting stuff instead of photos- labels off beer bottles, soap wrappers, cardboard coasters, interesting pictures in magazines, newspaper cuttings pressed flowers, and cartoons from fellow travellers, so it wasn’t all bad news.