Securing your bitcoin mining equipment from theft - ideas?

[rumbitla]

[JusticeForYou]

I think insurance and motion sensor cameras with alerts is about all you can do.

Good call. I didn't know you could buy these which send sms alerts and also take photos if the sensor is tripped.

If you had a Minirig or Avalon you could probably slip a gps unit or a prepaid phone with gps inside.

Yep, this is the solution I keep coming back to. But a factor I hadn't realised until today is the potential problems with heat. I don't know how hot it gets inside an avalon or minirig, but if it gets too hot, li-ion batteries can start to deteriorate and even explode

Maybe a lo-tech solution would be best after all? 

SLOW POKE

[Snail2]

Using a data center could be a good security measure.

[Darktongue]

Get them insured for one.  Depending on who's dishing it out and what you are paying.  You could get the miner paid for if it was boosted. Take pictures of your shit. Where it is an any identifying marks.  Perhaps the community could come up with a bar code serial number system for miner units.  So if this shit hits a pawn shop it's got something for the books. And that's only if a pawn shop takes it. Most of the time they require to see the item working.  LoL how many thiefs will really know what they have?.

Getting crafty is an option as well.  Hide that shit in something they would not think to open.  Ie a chest freezer.  Unless they plan on boosting a fozen pizza one could just stash this someplace and not have to worry about anyone really

[NoDisco]

Another lo-fi option to consider, after stumbling on this hilarious video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbkLjjlMV8

lead me to this motion activated sprinkler
http://www.amazon.com/Contech-CRO101-Scarecrow-Activated-Sprinkler/dp/B000071NUS

I actually think some unsuspecting thief getting a faceful of cold water in the middle of the night might make them feel they've been busted and run away

[NoDisco]

Get them insured for one.  Depending on who's dishing it out and what you are paying.  You could get the miner paid for if it was boosted. Take pictures of your shit. Where it is an any identifying marks.  Perhaps the community could come up with a bar code serial number system for miner units.  So if this shit hits a pawn shop it's got something for the books. And that's only if a pawn shop takes it. Most of the time they require to see the item working.  LoL how many thiefs will really know what they have?.

Yep, I think some semi-anonymous bitcoin tech registry would be a good idea. Serial number, link to some website. If someone types in the serial number of a recovered item, they can be put in touch with the rightful owner.

Getting crafty is an option as well.  Hide that shit in something they would not think to open.  Ie a chest freezer.  

This is a cool idea. I suppose you could have some covert outlet from the back of the freezer for miner heat to be exhausted. Most people expect heat and noise to come from the back of a freezer anyway, so I think, as you say, a thief wouldn't even notice it. You can get freezers with locks too can't you? And it not unusual to have freezers in a garage either? This is a really good suggestion, thanks Darktongue.

[NoDisco]

Well thank you. To be honest I'm shocked the ASICs don't have a serial number of some sort. It would be nice so thay even in a hundred years there was some way to go "Oh okay first gen asic miner for btc"

It's weird isn't it? A hairdryer, a laptop, a camera all have model numbers. Many also have a unique serial number too, so the manufacturer/owner can identify them. The owner, so they can identify if stolen. The manufacturer, so they can identify when it was manufacturered and if the warranty has expired etc.

And yet these mining companies are churning out machines without any identifiable markings. You gotta wonder...

[NoDisco]

Yeah I think it's pure lazy.  But that's what makes it fun, we can waste time makeing it right.

Pretty simple they could have done a company ID used the buyers pre order number then the batch number and number off the line.  Example

1AVA-#PREORDER-###

I bet they don't even put a paper invoice with the orders!

[g83]

[silverbox]

I was considering a 10-16 gun safe with ac'd air piped in and out 3-4" inlet/outlets.

Something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SentrySafe-14-Gun-59-in-Combination-Lock-Gun-Safe-G5241/100196980



Bolt it to the wall and floor and mount up your gear inside it.

Almost all home burgleries never touch the safe.  They grab what they can and get out.

I have no access to one of these, but it would probably be ideal. My only concern would be whether a 3-4" outlet would be enough to allow proper exhaust of hot air? Also, how would you drill a 3-4" hole in a safe? 

Yes 4" inlet/outlet will easily be enuf.  A couple new drill bits and a handfull of sawzall blades will make a 4" hole in a safe.  Put the intake down low, the exhaust up high.  You can easily get 6-10K btu of cooling thru a set of 4" holes.  Thats enuf cooling to cool down 2-3Kwatts of equipment..  So 4-5 Avalons..  or 8-10 BFL ASIC Singles..  Etc..

[nanobtc]

GPS does not work well indoors, unless it is near a window. GPS will not work at all inside any PC case. Since by nature it has to be online to mine and would probably be powered up eventually anyway, there are several GeoIP programs you could install to phone home over the net. That would at least give you an approximate physical location, and a MAC address the local ISP could pin down to a user. A cellphone duct-taped to the case will just get stolen separately.

It would be hard to effectively hide, because of the heat and noise. If you have big bucks invested in a miner, invest small bucks on a door that you can't open with a crowbar, for a start!

[Takeshi_Kovacs]

1) Get an alarm that will send a text to your phone if it is tripped.

2) Get SelectaDNA and daub it all over your rig.

3) Write down the serial numbers of everything. (Stuff that does not have serial numbers will be marked with the S-DNA kit anyway.)

As other people have said:

4) Get Kensington locks or even just chains and padlocks. When your alarm is screaming, all that the thief wants to do is grab something and run off there will be no time to cut a chain.

Elaborating on another suggestion.

5) Get a cheap smart-phone. Plug it into a charger - even just the usb port on your rig. Leave it in an obvious place close to the rig. You do not need to hide it and you do not need to worry about the battery life. It is the first thing that the thief will take and it will have a fully charged battery. It will surely last long enough to track him.

[EviaMulhearn]

Any one get familiar with the cell booster reviews? Tell me more details about this gadget, thanks, share some good sources.

[Lauda]

Well you should think along the lines of: how would I secure just about anything from theft?

Using a data center could be a good security measure.

This is a great idea, you wouldn't have to worry about it.

[Nerazzura]

I started a discussion on the KNC miner thread about protecting your high end mining equipment from theft. I'd like to open it up to wider discussion in this section of the forum.

Has anyone buying one of these (knc miners) thought about security? Like, what to do if their miner is stolen by some bum who breaks in and thinks it's a fancy desktop PC?

Any thoughts? Getting some kind of serial number engraved on the case? Marking the PCB somehow? Some kind of tracking that is it powers up, gps coordinates get send somewhere? I imagine high end industiral machinery must have something like this to protect the investment, but I don't really know.

The first suggestion was this tracking chip http://www.thetileapp.com/ Seems like a good idea, but it's very new product and I doubt there are many actually in use yet. Potentially good in a couple of years.

A few suggestions related to gps trackers that are used in plant machinery and cars to track if they are stolen (e.g. lojack). This is a potential solution, but these devices tend to be powered by car battery (so not suitable for use in a miner). Or they have build in long life batteries, which usually means they are bulky and expensive.

Also, stripping down a mobile phone and using that to transmit location was suggested. A good idea, but would need to find some way to keep the mobile battery constantly charged up and working for longer than mobile batteries usually last.

Then a suggestion of a gps module, which I like the most.

I'm doing my research on this, but I feel like I'm reinventing the wheel. Surely people who own high end industrial machinery ($20k cnc lathes etc) must have some security attached, rather than just a peelable sticker saying "Property of Company XYZ"?

My ideal solution would be:
1. Some kind of bare PCB board that could be attached inside the case of a miner. It would looks like it's part of the machine, so it's function as a tracking device is covert. Would be nice if it worked on rechargeable batteries, which were always kept topped up by the power supply to the miner. That way, if the miner was stolen, it would emit gps location data until the batteries were dead, which hopefully would be at least a week, giving time to get the cops involved for a recovery.

2. The next option, which is okay but not great, would be something similar that transmit when the machine is powered up. Much more risky, as you'd have to rely on the theives to plug it in at least once.

3. Your thoughts?

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One reason is likely to be slow adaptation bitcoin bitcoin how unusual and is not regulated by any financial institution. Lay people can make mistakes such as accidentally publishing its private key, and so on. so that new users can be free to use bitcoin technology. Therefore, the existence of a non-profit organization that promotes the use of bitcoin will greatly assist adaptation bitcoin by new users and large businesses.

[cyberpinoy]

Go to your local town municipal building and then your county municipal building get both a city/town business license, and a county business license, probably a home based business license will be fine, contact an insurance company, and get insurance against theft and damage, such as fire and water damage, every time you add a piece of hardware send the serial number in and the value of it to your insurance company, if it ever gets stolen or damaged in a fire or anything like that the equipment will be replaced at current market value plus interruption of business charges as well.

[S4VV4S]

I would get 3 Really Big Dogs..

2 is good enough

[TheTruth4]

Does that mean  I should mine with my phone?

[S4VV4S]

Does that mean  I should mine with my phone?

Soon... 

[InwardContour]

If you buy your machine from a 3rd party (as opposed to directly from the manufacturer) you should meet in a neutral location so the seller does not know where you live. Other important specs of the transaction are that you should not pay via check (it has your address), only in cash or bitcoin.

It would not be uncommon for people to have a few thousand dollars worth of "stuff" in your house, things like your TV, computer, iPad, furniture easily add up to having ~$5,000 of value or potentially more. If the current market value of your miners is that much or less then you should be safe keeping them at your house as long as you keep your door locked.

If the market value of your mining machines comes close to the $5,000 mark or slightly exceeds it then you could keep them in your basement (assuming there is not direct access to your basement from the outside). This could however present cooling issues.

Another option would be to have your machines housed in a data center.