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[ LOCK AND KEY ]Physical
security for
your digital
devices
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT
PROTECTING YOURSELF
VIA GOOD AV SOFTWARE:
SOMETIMES, THERE’S JUST
AS MUCH DANGER FROM THE
OFFLINE WORLD. WE CHECK
OUT THE LATEST DEVICES
DESIGNED TO PROTECT YOUR
GEAR IN THE PHYSICAL REALM.
[ BENNETT RING ]MUCH ADO IS made about digital security
in both home and office environments, yet
there’s an area that is often surprisingly
overlooked — the need to physically secure
our gadgets and IT equipment to stop sticky
fingers from permanently ‘borrowing’
equipment that isn’t theirs. This area’s been
well studied for businesses in particular:
research suggests that 34% of companies
have no form of physical security policy
in place, with laptops and PCs being stolen
as often from the office as they are from cars
and other forms of transport — one study
showed that a laptop is stolen every
53 seconds.
With today’s networks allowing each
laptop to contain reams of proprietary data,
the physical cost of the stolen item is often
the cheapest part of the theft. It’s the
important data that resides on the hard
drive that is usually worth exponentially
more, and which can give competitors
a huge leg-up.
While most offices still rely upon
Kensington locks to secure their devices,
there are also new forms of technology that
allow users to both locate missing devices,
such as Bluetooth-enabled trackers, as well
as screen-shielding technology that ensures
only the user of the laptop can see what’s on
screen; you never know who’s sitting next
to you on that flight to an international
conference. We’ve taken a look at some of
the more popular devices on the market to
ensure your hardware doesn’t end up in
the hands of somebody else.3M Gold Privacy Filter
17-inch
SEXY AND SECURE.AIMED AT HIGH-FLYING execs who want
to protect their screen view whilst also
looking darned sexy in the process, this is
3M’s flagship screen filter. Available in a
wide variety of sizes, we checked out the
large 17-incher, for those who like to lug a
monster of a laptop around. The film is
easily applied to your laptop; rather than the
entire screen protector being completely
adhesive, like a phone’s, it comes with eight
tabs that can be used to affix the screen to
your laptop. This removes any issues such as
bubbling or misalignment.
Once in place, when looking directly at
your screen, the view is clear and easy to
read, though brightness does suffer a little.
However, a 30-degree viewing angle and the
image starts to fade; at 60 degrees, all you
see is a beautiful rose-gold mirror, hiding
any and all data from the screen. It can be
reversed to show an all-black finish if you’d
prefer. There’s one small hitch — it’ll disable
any touch functionality of your screen.3M GOLD PRIVACY FILTER (17-INCH)
$125
http://www.3m.com.au
CRITICAL SPECS
Blocks view 60° from centre;
reduces 33 % of blue light emissions3M Privacy Filter 17-inch
THE SUBTLER SCREEN PROTECTION OPTION.IF YOU’RE LOOKING to secure your laptop’s
visual data, but don’t want the flashy gold look
of 3M’s premium product, the Privacy Filter is
a more subtle compromise. Like its cousin, it
uses a series of eight sticky tabs to affix to your
display, which means it can be easily removed
and cleaned if need be. However, this protector
only comes in black, which isn’t anywhere near
as attractive as the rose gold of the more
expensive model. Image clarity is also not
quite as great, with a heavier hit to brightness.
Yet it does just what it says on the tin —
stick this to your laptop, and the passenger
next to you on your next business flight won’t
be able to see a thing, even if you’re basically
sitting on top of each other in economy class.
One benefit of this model is that it’s reversible;
one side has a matte finish, while the other is
glossy, depending on your preference.3M PRIVACY FILTER (17-INCH)
$96
http://www.3m.com.au
CRITICAL SPECS
Blocks view 60° from centre;
reduces 33 % of blue light emmissionsSUPERGUIDEPHYSICAL SECURITY FOR YOUR DIGITAL DEVICESSHIELDING DEVICES3 4WINNERAPPROVED
AWARD