Lost USB memory stick

[pras]

I have been a member for a few months but this is my first post.

A friend thinks he left a Black 1Gb USB memory stick (2 inches long) on a train this morning (Monday). It is very small so it would be easy to overlook by the cleaners etc.

The train was the 07:33 Collington to London Victoria and he got off at East Croydon. He was in the last carriage.

Firstly, if he catches the same service tomorrow morning (Tuesday) will it be the same train (so-to-speak)?

If not, is there a way of finding out where he could find this carriage?

What else should I advise him to do about this?

Regards,
Patrick

 

[Class172]

It's unlikely that the same exact train will turn up on that service tomorrow so I would say that they should contact the TOC or lost property department (wherever it may be - Victoria?) to see if they have recovered it.

 

[tsr]

He should file a report online. There's not much else he can do. If it turns up at London Victoria's Lost Property Office, all should be well, provided a good description and contact details are given, and that the staff take good care to return it to him. If not, there's a very slim chance of being on the same train and finding it. Southern may be able to help identify the train via email, but it's unlikely you'll find that specific unit for a while.

Unfortunately, such things are very liable to get stolen, but he should not lose hope for a few weeks!

P.S. Welcome to the world of posting on these Forums!

 

[dvboy]

Unlikely to be the same unit. Best to phone Southern customer services. Might be lucky in that another passenger or cleaner found it and handed it into Lost Property, might possibly be in the same unit, and they'll be able to look up which one it was and possibly get someone to have a look, but also it could quite easily be in the rubbish by now.

Reminds me of the time I lost my Oyster card and season ticket on the DLR. I realised they were missing when I got to the barriers at Stratford, and went back to the platform to get the same train on its return from Stratford International. For some reason I had remembered the number of the unit and luckily someone on that train had found it, and handed it to me when I boarded and looked around the seat I'd been sat in.

 

[pras]

Thanks everybody.

My friend filled in the Southern Lost Property Form this morning but he has not heard anything. He tells me that he asked at East Croydon this evening in case it was found at the station but nobody knew anything.

It seems that all we can do is wait and see,
Many Thanks,
Patrick

 

[route:oxford]

I have been a member for a few months but this is my first post.

A friend thinks he left a Black 1Gb USB memory stick (2 inches long) on a train this morning (Monday). It is very small so it would be easy to overlook by the cleaners etc.

The train was the 07:33 Collington to London Victoria and he got off at East Croydon. He was in the last carriage.

Firstly, if he catches the same service tomorrow morning (Tuesday) will it be the same train (so-to-speak)?

If not, is there a way of finding out where he could find this carriage?

What else should I advise him to do about this?

Regards,
Patrick

He might get lucky and recover it. There's also a fair chance that it went straight up the vacuum, or brushed away with debris.

Corporate memory sticks are highly sought after by criminal types - often being full of market sensitive information, or confidential data about individuals.

 

[rf_ioliver]

To be honest I think you can forget about recovering the memory stick. A few salient points to consider:

1. what data was on the memory stick? Anything personal?
2. was it backed-up?
3. was it encrypted? (easy to do in all operating systems)

Personally I tend to copy all data onto my laptop before travel and in some cases I place on Dropbox. I'm also paranoid (I work with information system security and privacy) so depending upon the files they're usually encrypted - the laptop has an encrypted disk too so even in the case of losing that I've not lost anything apart from maybe an hour's work or so at worst.

t.

Ian

 

[wintonian]

Depending on the value and importance of the data it it might be better to write the loss off. Unfortunately the charges for lost property in London are not cheap - the following example is for Chiltern:

• Electronic items of high value (laptops, PDAs etc) - £20.00
• Mobile phones and I-pods - £10.00
• Books, umbrellas, hats, scarves and gloves - £2.00
• All other items - £3.00

Items of cash are subject to an administration charge.

Storage fees may apply for items of higher value (e.g. electronics, passports, reading glasses etc), or if you fail to collect your item on the agreed date.

I have to admit though that does seem cheaper than I recall the prices at Waterloo to be a few years ago where there used to be and perhaps still is a charge per day for storage..

Can you obtain another copy of the data and how much would it cost to do so in relation to Southern lost property charges?

 

[fsmr]

Depending on the value and importance of the data it it might be better to write the loss off. Unfortunately the charges for lost property in London are not cheap - the following example is for Chiltern:

• Electronic items of high value (laptops, PDAs etc) - £20.00
• Mobile phones and I-pods - £10.00
• Books, umbrellas, hats, scarves and gloves - £2.00
• All other items - £3.00

Blimey that is not cheap

My 12 year son came out of the toilet on a Midland service return heading up to MK from Euston on a day trip at Easter and told me there was a Blackberry left on the side, I praised him and retreived it but with no way of contacting the guard non emergency, decided to try and find the owner. Went through the first 2 coaches with device hidden from view asking if anyone had lost anything:roll: , ended up going back the other way and a very embarrassed city gent stood up out of all the other commuters clutching their pockets suddenly realised he was minus his lifeblood BB

Explained he was very lucky my son had found it , probably even more so if someone else had handed it in then looking at the charges for lost property.

When we got work IPhones we had to sign for them and take responsibility for any damage caused to the corporate network if they get into the wrong hands, mind you they are pretty secure. 8 digit madatory lock after 15 seconds idle and data wipe after 5 failed attempts to unlock. very embarrassing if you are a certain salesman and wipe your phone twice in a week LOL

 

[DarloRich]

I have been a member for a few months but this is my first post.

A friend thinks he left a Black 1Gb USB memory stick (2 inches long) on a train this morning (Monday). It is very small so it would be easy to overlook by the cleaners etc.

The train was the 07:33 Collington to London Victoria and he got off at East Croydon. He was in the last carriage.

Firstly, if he catches the same service tomorrow morning (Tuesday) will it be the same train (so-to-speak)?

If not, is there a way of finding out where he could find this carriage?

What else should I advise him to do about this?

Regards,
Patrick

Does he work for the government?


your best bet is to contact lost property and see if anyone handed it in - i doubt he will get it back though

 

[BestWestern]

Sorry to be crude but I would imagine certain staff would first 'inspect' a memory stick to see if it contains any filthy pics, hopefully handing it in if it doesn't!

 

[D365]

Might be encrypted? - I sure hope that the files contained exist elsewhere and that the device is found.

 

[merlodlliw]

USBs or slugs as we call them are too easily lost even at home, SWMBO lost one full of info she required for days,in the old days mini discs were not as losable but everything gets smaller & more easily losable.I see a few on trains with the usb attached to a neck cord for safe keeping.

As for encryption, those in the world of crime,can overcome this according to a friend who works for the local Heddlu

Another thought, would the slug/usb info be on the hard drive of the computer.

 

[wintonian]

USBs or slugs as we call them are too easily lost even at home, SWMBO lost one full of info she required for days,in the old days mini discs were not as losable but everything gets smaller & more easily losable.I see a few on trains with the usb attached to a neck cord for safe keeping.

I use these Corsair ones and they come with a nice cord to clip on to your keyring.

 

[merlodlliw]

I use these Corsair ones and they come with a nice cord to clip on to your keyring.

indeed until you loose the keys but better than a loose slug/usb.

 

[LexyBoy]

As for encryption, those in the world of crime,can overcome this according to a friend who works for the local Heddlu

Whether it's possible depends on what methods are used - putting things in a zip file with a password is fairly weak, using PGP is essentially unbreakable (the inventor of PGP was for a long time threatened with arrest by the US government as his release as free software of PGP - classified as military grade encryption - was considered a security threat). The amount of effort someone would put in would depend on their assessment what's likely to be on the disk.

Another thought, would the slug/usb info be on the hard drive of the computer.

It's generally A Bad Idea to use a USB stick as the primary location for saving/editing files; not only is there a chance of losing it but the failure rate is much higher than for storage on a hard disk. Especially for cheapo USB sticks. Better to save on a computer and copy across - and there are various solutions for synching so that you don't end up with a mess of different file versions.

 

[merlodlliw]

Thanks for the comments Lexy Boy. I recall a Charity in Wrexham losing all its accounts, due to no back up, a lot of Euro money was involved & as a result it had to close its doors.

 

[pras]

I seem to have started quite a discussion

My friend does not work for the government nor is there any confidential data on it. It is not encrypted.

He uses the stick for meeting notes and the occasional document. He had worked on a new report all of the previous day.

The latest backup was a week old. Personally, I think he got complacent.

He uses a stick because he uses three or four different computers in his working day. This includes the notebook PC he uses during his daily commute by train,

He has still not heard anything from lost and found,
Patrick

 

[Tibbs]

I have a text file on all of my sticks with my work address and an offer of a £50 reward if it's returned.

I have no idea f it works, but I don't want to pay out the £50 so I'm very careful with my sticks!

 

[LesS]

Here is an experience from the antipodes.
A year or so ago the operator of Sydney's trains put several hundred usb sticks up for auction. All had been left on trains. The press got onto the story and found that they had not been cleaned, and worse, most of them had viruses and other malware on them.

 

[maniacmartin]

I don't use USB sticks for this very reason. I use Dropbox* or self-hosted online solutions to move my files around between computers, or transfer between computers on my home network.

 

[SouthStand]

Sorry to be crude but I would imagine certain staff would first 'inspect' a memory stick to see if it contains any filthy pics, hopefully handing it in if it doesn't!

Why? There are millions of pornographic pictures and videos online lol.

 

[D365]

Why? There are millions of pornographic pictures and videos online lol.

...Pictures of younger people, perhaps? Though I would imagine that such a twisted person would take more care.

Although the OP has made it clear that nothing confidential (or encrypted) is stored on his friend's disk.