Last year, the Chronicle of Higher Education noted a rise in theft of memory and cpu chips on college and university campuses:

> CHIP THEFT UP ON CAMPUSES

> A worldwide memory chip shortage is spawning a surge in RAM chip theft on > college and university campuses. "This is the first time we've had this > kind of problem. Up until now, no one, to my knowledge, ever tried to break > into a machine," says a hardware specialist at Georgetown University, which > suffered a break-in and theft over the summer. Thieves apparently are > targeting only memory chips, which sell for about $160-$200 per > four-megabyte set, and are difficult, if not impossible, to trace. > (Chronicle of Higher Education 8 Sep 95)

To prevent chip thefts, some products you might want to look at include:

Entrapments from AnchorPad, Int'l - 35 Hammond, Irvine, CA 92718 800-626-2467, 714-580-2555

A steel strap encases the computer, blocking access to internal components. $99.95

Compu-Gard Security Enclosure from Compu-Gard, Inc. 1432 G.A.R. Highway P.O. Box 469, Swansea, MA 02777 800-333-6810, 508-679-8845

Enclosure constructed of heavy-gauge steel with a tubular lock - $127.90

Escort Steel Enclosures - Computer Security Products, Inc. P.O. Box 7544, Nashua, NH 03060, 800-466-7636, , 603-891-0194, compsec@aol.com

Steel enclosure - $119+

Pro-Tech Security Systems - Engineering Synthesis, Inc. P.O. Box 412, N. Kingstown, RI 02852, 401-295-1433

No details available, though they claim to deal with chip theft.

If anyone has had good or bad experience with these or any other chip theft deterrent products, please let me know about it.

Thanks,

Dave