As the kids pack up for a return to school, it's time to start thinking about how to keep all those high-priced electronics from getting ripped off. College campuses are notorious for the ease  and frequency with which gadgets become separated from their rightful owners, and it's up to you to prevent that from happening.

Here's how to make sure your stuff stays as safe as possible.

• Physical security is the most important point. While no physical security system is foolproof, if your laptop is locked with a cable lock and the one five feet away is not, a thief will snatch the untethered one every time rather than mess with yours. Even a basic level of security is a good start. Attach laptops to a desk or a bed frame with a cable lock whenever possible, and make a habit out of locking up wherever you go, even in class. PCs, monitors, and televisions can be locked up in the same manner. While your dorm room lock is child's play for any thief, the radiator in your room isn't going anywhere, so chain your gear to it. Protecting smaller gadgets is a little trickier. My best advice is to keep them on your person at all times, or stowed inside a backpack that you can lock. Sure, a thief can abscond with the entire backpack, but this is less common, since it's more conspicuous than just slipping your iPhone into his pocket. Backpacks can also be locked up (though less permanently) with a cable lock, too.
• An alarm makes good sense for your room, as a backup in case someone starts poking around where they don't belong. The Targus Defcon 1 can be attached to just about anything, and it emits a 95 dB squeal if it's moved without deactivating first by putting the correct code into the combination lock. You might also consider a simple webcam, mounted somewhere out of the way where it will be unobtrusive and overlooked, so you can hopefully catch a photo of any thief that starts scouring your room. Make sure any webcam you buy uploads photos to the net directly: It won't do much good if the pictures are stored on your stolen PC.
• Backups are critical for any college student, and online ones will be far better than offline backups: Any thief that takes your laptop is going to take your USB hard drive, too. Configure Mozy or another online service to backup data continuously. It may hurt to buy a new laptop but it will really hurt to have to rewrite your thesis.
• LoJack for Laptops is a good way to attempt to track and recover any stolen notebook. I've written about LoJack many times before.
• Data security, it should go without saying, is also of importance. Antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall software should all be in place. And while I won't judge you if you install a P2P app, please make sure you configure it correctly and don't share private data files, copyrighted media, or anything else you don't want the whole world to see.
• Buy appropriate equipment. Remember that most students have no need for $2,000 laptops and $3,500 PCs. Buy the least expensive equipment you can afford that will still get the job done. Thieves will be less likely to make off with cheap equipment, you won't feel so bad if it does get stolen, it'll be easier to replace, and you'll probably be upgrading after graduation, anyway.