You can use a Kensington Lock/Kensington Slot for physical security of electronic equipments
We have been talking so much about network security, but what about physical security? Of what use is the best firewall, when someone can steal your laptop and access all the information? A Kensington lock and Kensington slot can help secure your expensive electronic equipments against theft, and hence secure any data inside it too!
Have a look at this video to get an idea about how the Kensington Lock works:
When going through the specifications for laptops and projectors, I have noticed a ‘Kensington slot’ being present in some of them. I have always wondered what this Kensington slot/Kensington lock is, until today.
Kensington is a company that has been manufacturing physical locks for laptop (and other electronic equipment) security for quite a long time and hence many vendors have Kensington slots integrated with their electronic products. You can see Kensington slots in Laptops, Desktops, Projectors, Printers, Servers, Flat panel monitors, etc.
Kensington locks are made of a single click locking mechanism and high carbon steel cable attached to it. It can lock your electronic equipment to a rod, table leg, window frame, etc by pushing the lock over an attachment placed on the Kensington slot (single click locking mechanism) or it can be locked manually by using physical keys.
One can open/release the lock using a physical key or a number combination (available in certain locks). The company even offers a web-registration portal to register your keys, so that in case you lose them and the laptop is locked, they can send duplicate keys to you!
Kensington slot is a standard hole that is already integrated in many electronic equipments. A Kensington lock can fit into this hole and with another attachment, it can just lock-in when the user pushes the lock into the hole (see the above embedded video to get a good idea on how to lock a laptop physically).
The Kensington physical security lock can be used in many situations like a college dorm, offices, client offices, transport facilities (trains/buses), coffee shops, conference rooms and anywhere else where one might leave the laptop/other electronic equipments unattended for a considerable amount of time. It can prevent opportunistic thieves from running away with your laptop/projector.