ATD

So on the 18th my family and I flew MUC-DEL on LH. Just after exiting the plane in DEL, I found an empty laptop case inside my carry-on which had been stowed in the overhead bin. I had been awake most of the flight and it's hard to imagine someone stealing it from there.

We believed it must have been left at security in MUC when we were in a hurry gathering our things. Subsequent research with the security company, airport police, lost and found office, Lufthansa, etc. has drawn up blanks.

The laptop wasn't worth much but had lots of important data. Out of warranty so no coverage there. Flight was paid in cash to an agent otherwise the credit card company might have helped.

Seems like it must have been pinched, either at the security line or on the plane.

Just thought to report this in case anyone has had a similar experience at MUC or onboard, or if anyone has any other ideas.

Thanks.

--ATD

weero

How heavy was your handluggage - or how light was that laptop - that you did not notice the weight difference of your hand luggage without it in there ?

mamb0

I didnt repack my Macbook Air at the security check. 24hrs after the incident it was at the lost and found office. They told me it well could take a day until it gets there.

luv2ctheworld

Wirelessly posted (BB Curve: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; T-Mobile G2 Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1(KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Sorry to hear about the laptop. Although I can't offer any help or insight on recovering the laptop, I will mention that an online backup service such as dropbox or sugarsync is an invaluable service. All my data is synced automatically when online, and I have little fear of lost data now that it's in the cloud. While I would be upset over the lost physical equipment, I rest assured knowing my data is safe.

oliver2002

I've left stuff (entire bags) at MUC security and everything gets delivered for storage at the central lost and found in the Z area. No chance they will steal a laptop after last years scare when a stressed Spaniard left behind a laptop.

weero

It isn't.

If you rent a service from a US based company the blessed Patrio Act obliges those companies to grant spies on tax dollars to roam through your stuff at will.

And if you rent it from a non-US service, the servers have no performance.

As either options is entirely unacceptable to me, stick my own devices.

ATD

It was in a heavy bag, we certainly wouldn't have noticed the difference. The whole scene was disturbed as we had to rush to the LH baggage office to get reimbursed for the car seat of ours they had lost for several days. Seems like someone took advantage and stole it right there. Grrrr!

--ATD

oliver2002

Did you contact the baggage office in MUC? Maybe they have it...

weero

If the queue was dense and in a rush, this is a tremendous risk for a thief. A thief who must accidentally happen to be there.

I'd check back to see if they have stored it at the airport.

MichielR

If it was at MUC security and you can remember the date and time you were there, there's a good chance security camera's have captured the scene. Worth asking, in my opinion.

luv2ctheworld

In extension of that logic, Customs and Border Patrol can also go through your data when entering the country, so what's the big whoop?

The point is you have an ONLINE backup of your data... so when your own devices are lost or stolen, the data is still available somewhere else. It is a compromise that is worth making to not worry about the data being permanently lost. The chances of G-men and the threat of their prying eyes is much smaller than losing devices loaded with valuable data, and no backup.

Monty_GER

Hi.

What about enyryption of your uploaded data?

S.

ATD

I really appreciate everyone's helpful suggestions but believe me we've done everything we can to try to trace it. It is really hard to imagine that someone stole it at security or onboard, but in lieu of any other plausible explanation. . . .

Somehow this episode has disturbed me a lot more than it should have.

--ATD

G_G

yes, that's what I've made using TrueCrypt (open source software)

Monty_GER

So am I.

The problem with TC and Upload is, that you have to upload the whole container. You can not just upload the changes you made.

If you have bigger containers this can be a problem.

S.