Filed under: Software
Undercover software tracks "stolen" Mac
The
team at Mac 360 "stole" a Mac in order to test Orbicule's Undercover, new anti-theft software for a Mac. David Chartier described
what Undercover does in an earlier post. The gist of it is that Undercover
tries to locate a stolen Mac by taking and transmitting screenshots. If the Mac has an iSight, Undercover will even
take photos of the user and send those back to Orbicule. What if the Mac isn't connected to the Internet? In that case,
Undercover simulates a hardware meltdown, in the hope that the thief will take the computer to an authorized reseller
for repair. To test whether these novel tracking schemes are likely to get your Mac back to you, Mac 360 staged a test theft of a PowerBook. The result is a two-part keystone cops post. Their conclusion? I'll let you guess.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mephistophelian said 8:26AM on 3-03-2006
Sounds great but wouldn't a hard drive wipe and a clean install of OS X be a workaround?
If I was a theif that's what I would do but I guess theives aren't as smart as me that's why they are theives.
... actually come to think of it maybe they are smarter than me because I'm the one that is working for a living when they're not.
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william Bartley said 9:17AM on 3-03-2006
I have a coworker who said Apple related to him that they don't check if an Apple product has been stolen. They said they quit doing that about a year ago. He learned this when his PB was stolen in a house burglary. I believe Apple has done this because of legal issues arising from the possibility of falsely accusing someone who has purchased a second-hand Apple product.
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Matthew said 9:51AM on 3-03-2006
Thanks for posting that article. I would have missed it otherwise, and I've been curious as to how Undercover would do in the "real world."
However, I found the review left a lot of information off the table. Such as how effective knowing a stolen Mac's IP address is on a practical level. An IP will provide the address only if Comcast, etc, will divulge it to the owner of a stolen Mac. Will they?
I was hoping for a little more technical detail, but overall it was an interesting read.
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John said 10:12AM on 3-03-2006
Not a very thorough review... they basically just stated the features of the product found on Oribcule's website. They didn't mention any of the interaction with Oribcule, what information they got (IP info, etc), no camera captures, no screen captures of what the "thief" saw on his end. Why go through all the effort to "steal" them mac just to give an overview of what happens? Detail, people, details...
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lgc90 said 11:11AM on 3-03-2006
Using Apple's open firmware password stops anyone without a set password from being able to wipe the hd, start up in target disk mode, etc...
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David said 11:28AM on 3-03-2006
They probably aren't giving details because thieves could be interested in how to work around their software. Just maybe.
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Bambi Hambi said 11:55AM on 3-03-2006
Obviously, we kept some information out of the review. There's only so much detail that should be disclosed to potential Mac thieves.
Communication with Orbicule was constant. As the artilcle states, they were able to retrieve inside and outside IP addresses, router IP address, and actually track the blocks to our local ISP (who could easily provide an address to authorities).
The first article also showed one of the many camera captures, including a live one of the "thief". Orbicule sent us screen captures, which displayed what applications were being used on the "stolen" Mac. They also took and provided us with photos of the "thief" at work on the Mac (actually, Mac360's sys admin). The photo of him in pajamas was discarded.
Are there ways around Undercover? Duh. Its there any sure fire way to prevent a theft of your Mac? Probably not, unless you border on ridiculous. Still, there's good value here for the road warrior.
Other options we've received from readers included Open Firmware, File Vault, use OSX's Login/PW (not auto login), and a "Guest Account" so a thief can get in and look around (while Undercover phones home).
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chris said 2:34PM on 3-03-2006
I think having an easy to guess guest account is a great way to go. Make it easy for them to get in to begin with so the laptop has a chance to work for you. Many people, even those with the knowledge of work arounds are tempted by what a computer might have on it, data-wise, that they want. Music, software, videos, etc.
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