What are tamper resistant stickers?

Tamper resistant stickers are an incredibly useful tool for many organisations who want to protect their assets. So if you haven’t heard of them yet, then you might want to find out what they’re all about.

Tamper resistant labels are designed for use with valuable assets that are owned by organisations. They are often used to prevent thieves from successfully stealing their goods and can be a fantastic cost-effective alternative to extra security lights and cameras.

How do they work?

The way that tamper resistant stickers work is simple but quite ingenious. Using the latest high-end technology, the text and data you need is laser engraved onto the sticker for a permanent, hard to damage finish. These stickers can withstand impressively high temperatures, as well as dish washing, microwaving and more.

Alongside this, tamper resistant stickers can also be designed to shatter or break apart when forcefully removed, making it impossible for thieves to fully remove the label. This ensures that even if your assets are still stolen, they can be identified far more quickly and easily.

What types can I get?

There are a range of different tamper resistant stickers out there to cater to the varying needs of organisations. All tamper resistant products are incredibly strong and are almost impossible to remove, but there can be variations depending on what you need.

Small anti-tamper asset stickers are perfect for those worried about the intrusiveness of labels on their product. They can be round or square and offer the same amount of resistance as their larger counterparts. The only disadvantage of a smaller label is that they cannot hold as much information but depending on your needs, this may not be an issue.

Barcoded tamper resistant stickers are larger and are the perfect choice for organisations that are looking to cross link their asset labels with an online system. This option offers both security and enhanced management benefits, making them perfect for larger organisations with large volumes of assets.

 

Are they right for me?

Tamper resistant stickers are perfect for any organisation that wants to protect assets with heavy, everyday usage. This includes cameras, laptops, high value machinery, lab equipment and so much more. Alongside this, it’s good to know that anti-tamper labels aren’t overly intrusive and will not significantly ruin the aesthetics of an asset.

Both private companies and public organisations can benefit from this extra layer of security. So no matter if you’re a school or a global business, you can use tamper resistant products to prevent serious company losses and keep thieves at bay.

Tips on Recovering Stolen Items

Being burgled is a terrible experience, but it can be a wake-up call for many of us about how poorly protected our assets can be.

While insurance can help cover the cost of replacing items most of us would rather have our property back. However, even if police recover stolen goods one of the hardest issues can be proving who the real owners are of each item. If you don’t have records and your items aren’t security marked then it can at times be virtually impossible to prove ownership.

Using Identifying Security Marks 

Many people don’t know how to protect their items in the event of a burglary therefore fail to do so. To be safe, keep item descriptions, serial numbers, and photos of your valuables. You can also place identifying security marks on your property, so they can be quickly recognised as belonging to you.

Try marking your soft items, such as leather, or cloth with a marker and use a UV security marking pen to mark high valued Items with ‘shiny’ surfaces such as iPads, tablets, laptops, projectors, cameras, mobiles, bikes, garden utilities - where chemical etching won't penetrate.

Call the Police 

The first thing to do when you find that your home has been broken into is do call the Police. Filing a police report and providing as much information as possible about your stolen goods will help the police in their investigation.

Check in with the police weekly to see if they’ve made progress on your case. Reminding the police about your case will keep it fresh in their minds.

Check out local pawn and second-hand goods Shops 

It is not uncommon for thieves to take stolen goods to a pawn shop or second hand goods store in your local area and surrounding towns. Ring around and visit some of these shops immediately after the event.

If you find your goods in a shop don’t demand your good back or attempt to buy them back. You should ask the shop to reserve them for you and contact the police straight away.

Browse through the eBay listings 

EBay is another popular method used by burglars to get rid of hot items. If you happen to stumble across your missing items on eBay, print a copy of the listing, complete with the eBay site address, date, item number, and User ID.

Print one copy for yourself and one for the police. By giving the police the listing, they can then go about recovering your items. Hopefully these tips will be able to help you recover your stolen items in the unfortunate event of a burglary.

Remember by security marking your items, this will increase your chances of recovering them.

Security Marking for Business and Industry 

If you’re an organisation or business then your security marking needs to be more organised than a simple UV pen and the method you use can vary across your different assets and equipment.

Specialists in asset and security marking Dantech Ltd can help you find the right security marking system for you including UV security marking stencils suitable for shiny surfaced equipment like iPads, ID security plates for big or high value equipment and asset labels for smaller items, tools and equipment. For more information visit www.idmark.com.

Security Marking Tablets To Protect Your Property

Perhaps the greatest irony of the 2008 Recession is that, even during its height, sales of highly expensive personal items continued to grow, such as the latest models of mobile phone, laptops and tablet computers.

Many of us now carry around several hundred pounds worth of electronic devices that simply help us function in an increasingly cyber-dependent world. Indeed it’s actually become very common for someone’s entire life to be held on a single hard-drive, from baby photos to e-invoices to personal contacts.

Increased Risk

Of course, with all this lovely expensive tech comes as increasing need for security and sadly a side effect of recession periods can be an increase in theft. While many security measures work to lock down a device or protect the data stored inside what most of us would like is deterrent to prevent the theft in the first place.

It is a sad fact that even the best locks can be broken, and that determined thieves can eventually overcome most security measures. Something like a Kensington lock or an alarm rather than a form of immunity against theft; is rather more akin to a delaying action or a deterrent. If a thief does decide to pinch your locked and alarmed laptop, you can be reasonably sure he also has the determination to break or circumnavigate the other security measures.

So what do you do if the locks fail and the thief gets away with your company tablet computer, one which potentially holds a vital work files and information?

Sad to say, but there isn’t a lot you can do yourself, however if your company had security marked your tablet they would have improved your chances of the police finding, identifying and returning your tablet to you safe and sound.

 Security Marking

When we talking about security marking tablets, laptops and other tech, what we’re actually doing is marking such devices with a small security label, stencil or plate. These create a permanent mark of ownership in many cases a company name and can include a unique security number for identification, and maybe even other informational titbit's such as contact details. 

While security labels can be made from a number of materials a tamper evident material break into small pieces when attempts are made to remove them. This makes it even harder to remove and clearly shows tampering. Products like ID Silver Mark and ID Mark leave a permanent UV identification which can be clearly seen under the correct lighting, This makes security marked items harder for thieves to sell on (fences and dealers are usually unwilling to accept “hot” goods) and easier for them to be identified if recovered.

While security marking cannot guarantee that your tech will be returned with any due swiftness, it can help improve the chances of the item being found, and that in itself can be well worth the investment. 

For more information about security marking tablets, phones, laptops and other devices, or security tag IDs in general, visit Dantech - ID Mark security marking, a company that specialises in security marking for business, industry and organisations. You can also contact them directly by phoning 01354 688 488.

What are Security Labels?

Security Labels are a type of sticker that can be attached to your business equipment and fixed assets to deter the chance of them being lost or stolen by clearly identifying the items as your property.

The security label usually attaches via very adhesive glue on the back of a laminated piece of plastic or metal, engraved on which are your company details.

Recommended security

The UK’s Home Office recommends the use of these labels, with identifiable information such as company name and postal code clearly visible.

Many businesses now use millions of Security Labels and plates to protect items such as laptops, mobile phones, printers and even larger factory equipment. The idea behind security labels is that once stuck onto an object, it is incredibly difficult, or even impossible to remove the label without damaging the object onto which it is stuck. This helps to deter would-be-thieves from stealing these possessions, although it is obviously not a definite prevention.

Having these Security Labels on your property also means that if any of your items did by any chance happen to go missing, with a Post Code and Company Name marked clearly on them, they can be quickly identified as your property and returned.

Finding the right labels for you

Depending on the type of property that you are trying to mark, Security Labels come in different classes. Some are very simple, small stickers which a company name, logo and contact number can be printed on. Then, you can get larger stickers for property that is bigger. These are generally much stickier to prevent someone getting purchase on them and ripping them off.

At the high end of the security label market, it is possible to acquire Ultra Destructible labels, which, if tampered with will break into smaller pieces every time, making it impossible to remove them. Alternatively, you can buy metal plates which can be melted on to certain surfaces with a special super-glue. These can only be removed with specialist tools which are likely to damage the product they are on anyway.

When you buy a set of security labels, they usually come in a bulk buy purchase, where you purchase at least a couple of hundred labels. The price per label then decreases if you order more and more. For more details on types of security labels and pricing visit ID Asset Labels.

If something can be lost then it will be lost.

If there is one unchallenged fact about school life it is that each year many students will misplace equipment and possessions.

A recent survey confirmed that around 80% of school students lose at least one valuable item a year. This is a serious problem when it is something as valuable as a tablet or other IT device, then matters become a lot more serious.

Match this up with the fact that in recent years tablet ownership among school students have more than quadrupled.

This is a worrying sign, students losing valuable items means that schools and parents are having to fork out for replacements more often than they would prefer.

The most common cause of a 'lost' device is not just theft, in face only a tiny minority are actually stolen. These 'lost' devices are often left somewhere and forgotten. 

The majority of schools are getting clever about this and marking all their portable IT equipment with labels. This is where our ID Silver Mark labels can help, they are precision cut stencils which can include your school name and any contact information that you require. These labels are then painted with UV ink to show up should the label be removed, more information on these labels can be found at www.idmark.com.

Alternatively for smaller portable items, our ID Mini Mark Labels can help to identify and track each item. Due to their size they are suitable for all small electronic equipment including microphones, earphones as well as cables, cameras and similar equipment. Each ID Mini Mark Label can incorporate a serial number and/or bar code thus making it possible to include a lot of data in a small space. Should anybody attempt to remove the asset label or switch the label onto some other equipment, the material will break into small pieces, thus announcing the fact that the label has been tampered with. Furthermore, because the data is engraved into the surface of the label it cannot be removed with chemicals and cleaning materials. The Mini Mark labels can be provided with white text on black or silver material with black text. There is more information on our website -www.idassetlabels.co.uk.

Alternatively, please call us on 01354 688 488 or email us sales@dantech.co.uk for free and unbiased help and advice. 

Keeping Track of Tablets

When a tablet goes missing, how do you know which is which?

There are two issues relating to the increased use of tablets in the workplace. One is that the rate as which tablet use is increasing and second the number of times these items are mislaid, lost or stolen.

By their nature small and portable equipment can be easily lost or mislaid. In reality only a tiny minority of tablet computers may actually be stolen.

What happens is that a person in the company legitimately is loaned a tablet, but then subsequently this is lost or becomes hard to locate, so the employee borrows another tablet.

Does the company have accurate records of which item has been lost and are sufficient security markings in place for each tablet to aid recovery of the lost item? Should this be a reoccurring situation would you be able to trace the source back to an employee or employees i.e. the same employee losing equipment or different employees are mislaying items.

Problems security marking tablets

Tablets are invariably made of either aluminium or hard plastic with a cured paint to make it hard and scratch-proof. This makes putting identification marks on the tablet computers difficult, because you simply can’t 'etch' anything into aluminium or hard plastics as they do not have a porous surface.

One security marking solution is to use an aluminium trakaplate which, because of the thickness and strong adhesive that they use, are near impossible to remove. In fact, the only way you could get such an identification label off would be to lever it off with a screwdriver – which is extremely hard to do.

An alternative product is ID Silver Mark labels. These security labels are precision cut stencils which can include your company name. The labels are then painted with UV ink to provide a pertinent security marking that lasts even if the label is removed.

If you have tablets or similar objects of value in your organisation investing in quality security marking will ensure you can track, trace and protect these valuable assets.

For free and unbiased help and advice on selecting the best security marking or asset labelling solutions call Dantech on 01354 688 488 or visit www.idmark.com

Asset Tags - Asset Protection That Pays For Itself

What is the most cost effective way of stopping the misplacement of valuable equipment?

Protect you equipment and assets!

A recent school research project found that in over four fifths of schools each year at least one item of value goes “missing”. The survey, conducted by the School of Education Administration and Management, found that a substantial number of these “losses” originated from the ICT department.

This clearly highlights the high vulnerability of ICT equipment to theft and loss in schools and that steps do need to be taken to reduce these losses.

It is clear that any workable asset tracking solution will need:

• to actually reduces the level of items that go missing
• aiding the recovery of these items
• be cost effective 

Asset tags are a great security marking solution as when everyone can see that equipment is being tracked, there is a strong disincentive for the equipment to be “borrowed” without permission. 

A key benefit of asset tags is that the cost of using them is very cost effective and is far cheaper than replacing lost equipment each year. In addition schools are required to show proof of depreciation of assets, and having an asset tracking program in place will help schools keep an accurate record of the condition of their equipment ensuring this process runs smoothly. 

Asset tags and school insurance

Tracking your assets with asset tags also reduces questions from insurers and can even help to reduce your premiums as your insurance company can sees that the school is taking the issue of asset protection seriously.

Asset tag materials and properties.

Asset tags can be printed on a range of materials from polyester to aluminium and may include a barcode with a readable number or a readable asset number only. As the asset tag labels cannot be removed from one item and placed on another, you inhibit the use of the trick in which the label from a low-cost item is removed and put on a high cost item.  

The thought of the thief is that when the high-cost item is “lost”, no one will worry too much, as the system shows it as a low-cost item.  Now that problem is avoided.

Expert asset tagging and marking advice

Dantech are specialists in asset tags and can help you to find the right asset tag labels for your specific requirements. For more information visit http://www.idassetlabels.co.uk for free and unbiased help and advice.

Protecting Laptops, iPads & Tablets

Several years ago Bryanston School based in Dorset decided came to the decision that the school needed to track and check its ever growing stock of IT equipment. 

After looking at a number of options they felt the most sustainable and cost effective solution was to label their on site laptops and equipment not just with the school’s postcode but also with the name of the student who owned the computer using a system called ID SILVER MARK. Over time the school has been able to use the same system to security label iPads, iPhones and hard drives.


The system is simple each September the school orders silver mark labels for the new intakes, being sure to order enough security labels for existing equipment plus two further labels per student in case the students get new laptops during the year.

What if someone removes the label?

The great thing about silver mark labels is if the security label gets peeled off, the UV paint still show the schools postcode and pupil name.  This UV marking is permanent and makes it much easier to track equipment.


In addition the Police and Insurance companies have noted that the ID MARK conforms to Home Office Guidelines - by using your name and postcode as a way of identifying your property, this helps with item recovery in case of theft.

More than just a solution for schools

Silver mark security marking is the perfect solution not only for schools, but for a wide range of organisations and businesses wanted to keep track and protect their valuable equipment.

ID Silver Mark is available in black or silver materials with permanent adhesive. All Dantech asset labels are personalised with your name and logo as well as sequential numbering or barcodes.

There is more information on asset labelling visit http://www.idassetlabels.co.uk/ or for security marking including ID Silver Mark visit http://www.idmark.com/

Cost Effective Equipment Tracking

Cost Effective Equipment Tracking

What is the most cost effective way of keeping track of the location and condition of all your equipment?

For organisations keeping track of all your equipment can be a difficult and resource intensive task. What is needed is an asset management system that is cost effective and clearly shows which item has been moved or loaned, who has it, and what condition it is in.

In an ideal situation everyone in your organisation would return equipment to the correct place and at the correct time plus report any faults or problems. Sadly this is not the norm, but by using a dedicated asset management system people are given more incentive to manage your equipment correctly, bring the ideal much closer to reality.

Asset labels play a big part in asset management and Dantech are experts in a wide number of asset marking and labelling solutions.

Dantech's ID MINI MARK labels can include a serial number and/or 2D barcode thus making it possible to contain a lot of data in a small space. These asset labels are also small enough to fit onto even small accessories. Furthermore, because the data is engraved into the surface of the equipment they resist chemicals and cleaning materials.

With tamper evident technology should anyone try to remove or switch these small asset labels to some other equipment the material will break into small pieces, showing clearly the label has been interfered with.

Dantech Mini Mark labels are available with white text on black or silver material with black text. For more information call us on 01354 688488 or visit http://www.idassetlabels.co.uk