Security app helps recover 4 stolen MacBooks
updated 08:00 pm EDT, Tue September 11, 2007
4 stolen MacBooks back
Orbicule has announced that Undercover, their theft recovery software for Macs, recently succeeded in recovering four MacBooks at once. This past April a K-9 school in Sweden fell a victim to a thief's visit. The school was broken into and 4 brand new Macs were stolen despite all entrances securely locked. The Undercover software installed on the Macs was able to take pictures of the thief using the built-in iSights, and take screenshots of the activity taking place, eventually pegging down the thief's home address.
The company says: "Within 9 hours of the computers being stolen, Orbicule’s Undercover software was transmitting screen shots from the stolen Mac, as well as snapshots of the thief himself. Working with law enforcement authorities and the local Internet provider, the physical address of the thief was obtained." On April 8, 5 days after the theft, the police called the victim to announce that the stolen computers had been recovered.
A single user license of Undercover costs $49, a household license is available for $59.
Sweet
09/11, 09:35pm reply
thats awesome.
PhotoBug
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2007
a clever swede...
09/12, 07:52am reply
...beats a potato-head thief every time!
Feathers
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 1999
Easy to defeat
09/12, 09:45am reply
1. Open computer away from you and slip some tape over the iSight.
2. Disconnect from any network.
3. Get what you need/want.
4. Reformat.
These software solutions are pretty much pointless to an educated theif.
itguy05
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2005
Oxymoron
09/12, 09:56am reply
"educated thief"
Clive
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
That's the point
09/12, 10:00am reply
How many "educated thiefs" are out there? This is a fine system to catch your garden variety smash-and-grabber. This softwar also phones home with info about IP and other identifiers, so it's more htan just snapping pics.
Actually, this software sounds pretty cool, the more I read about it on their site. "Undercover will show a full-screen message alerting the reseller or someone who bought the Mac from the thief that the Mac has been stolen..." "Additionally, your Mac will start shouting at the highest volume level, using its built-in text-to-speech capabilities. You can decide... what message is displayed"
Now THAT, my friends, is some serious nagware! :)
Zaren
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Depends what you want
09/12, 10:29am reply
If you want the DATA, you're going to be an educated theif.
If you want the hardware, you may not be so educated.
Still, I fail to see the point - even with an IP address it may be a tough sell. I can connect to a few neighbors WiFI spots (without passwords) from my home and get out. And if the spot is WEP or WPA protected, it won't phone home without you supplying the passwords.
Not to mention the software has to phone home to even know it's stolen. So if you were to steal a Mac and not connect to any Internet, you'd have free reign over it to get data out and reformat it before the software even knew it was gone.
itguy05
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2005
works as specified
09/12, 12:00pm reply
While everyone here has a valid point, statistical data is clear and very much in favour of this software. And it says that:
Vast majority of these theives don't know squat about Macs;
Vast majority of these thieves will either try to re-sell them on the street or through an acquaintance;
Vast majority of the stolen laptops will be eventually turned on and booted the usual way, trying to log in and connect to a wireless network (my MacBook does that automatically by default).
Therefore, vast majority of these computer will have that stealth software do exactly what it was designed to do and eventually facilitate quick and easy recovery.
If your laptops leaves your home or office often, $50 is a good deal.
vasic
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2005