Filed under: Software, Macbook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air
TUAW Review: MacTrak Theft Recovery Software
There are several applications available that will help find a lost or stolen Mac. Here at TUAW, we've talked about LoJack for Laptops, Orbicule's Undercover, MacPhoneHome, and iAlertU from Slapping Turtle. Most of these apps "find" the computer by determining the IP address of the machine, and using that data to narrow down the physical location where the laptop is in use. That information can be shared with police and ISPs to find the thieves, recover your laptop, and make an arrest.
There's a new Mac recovery app available called MacTrak that's different -- it uses the same Skyhook Wireless positioning technology used in the iPhone to accurately determine the location of your Mac within 10-20 meters. If your nice new MacBook Pro is lost or stolen, you simply log into a special web page with your predetermined credentials, and click on one button to start tracking your Mac. Every 30 minutes, MacTrak takes a picture with the iSight camera, then sends detailed information including its latitude and longitude to you via email. At the same time, it uploads that same information in a "Wanted Poster" view to your Flickr account. You can then work with the proper authorities to have your Mac returned to you. Read on for more info about MacTrak.
Installing the app is relatively easy. You just need to have an email address (they suggest a Yahoo! or Gmail account) and the license code that is sent to you when you purchase the app. You then create a password to use when activating tracking of your laptop. You enter the email address you want your theft recovery info sent to, as well as the address you want it to appear the email came from. SMTP server information is also required so that MacTrak can send you the email.
Next, the MacTrak installer takes you through a Flickr account login and authorization. The process seemed a little odd to me; the first time I installed the app I obviously did something incorrect since I never did get any pictures uploaded to Flickr. Things worked better the second time around.
After a required restart, I checked to see if there was any sign of the application. Nope! It's hidden from view so no would-be MacBook thieves can disable it. To begin tracking of my device, which had been "stolen" by me, I went to a special website, logged in, and enabled tracking.
A while later, the first email came into my inbox. The image below has been retouched to hide personal location information, but it provided just about every piece of information a law enforcement officer would need to see who had taken my computer. I should have retouched the photo to get rid of the evidence of a bad hair day, too! The latitude and longitude shown were right in front of my house, and a quick look at Google Maps showed that there would only be a couple of houses that police would need to visit to track down my MacBook Air. Pretty cool.
I found it especially compelling that the external IP information provided simply showed the area in which I live, but no specific address. It would definitely require the help of the local ISP (which GadgetTrak thoughtfully provides) to figure out which house or building contained the laptop. The Wi-Fi based location information was right on target, so this method works well in areas where Wi-Fi routers spring up like weeds.
MacTrak costs $59.95 for a lifetime, with no annual fees. You can transfer the license to a new device at any time. If you do a lot of traveling, MacTrak can add some peace of mind should your Mac laptop be lost or stolen. GadgetTrak has a similar iPhone package available, for free, in the App Store (click opens iTunes).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Frank said 5:54PM on 11-18-2008
i use orbicule's undercover, and i sleep better at night knowing it's there. this seems like a pretty cool piece of software too, though. i hope you're going to do a shootout and compare/contrast each of the types available that you mention.
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Paul Lepage said 6:17PM on 11-18-2008
All of these software tools seem so pointless. If I were ever to steal a laptop, I would make sure to not open it until I got somewhere without an open wireless connection and then reformat the hard-drive. I understand that lowjackforlaptops has made agreements to have their software embedded in the bios of some laptops so it can't be removed. But all these other programs are only going to stop the dumbest of criminals.
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Yahtzee said 7:28PM on 11-18-2008
Most criminals are dumb.
Erick said 2:34AM on 11-19-2008
Actually lowjack's BIOS embedding does not work on a Mac, it is only PC. I discovered this AFTER I purchased it and the jerk off at Best Buy told me it did, only to find our in teh product literature that id didn't.
With Leopard protecting your drive from being reformatted is pretty easy, I don't think you understand how that bit works. Seeing as how these apps are boasting a recovery rate South of 95% so I don't think your dumbest of criminals hold water. I don't think I have run into too many smart thieves and if they exist they are probably robbing banks and jewelery stores like Oceans 11.
Really the best anti-theft is to not get your laptop stolen in the first place. Use common sense. Of course if it still happens it is nice to see a solution like this, I can't wait to hear about their first recovery.
DWes said 4:14PM on 11-19-2008
Most criminals are not just dumb, they are insanely dumb. And thieves rank among the dumbest. And to add to that, most theft is done to provide money for drug addiction.
Jacob Butler said 6:47PM on 11-18-2008
I've just tried the iPhone version of the software and I'm not very impressed.
I have a 3G iPhone in the UK and it is locating me around a mile away from my house, and in different directions. This despite it asking several times if it can use my location.
If the iPhone version of the software using GPS can't locate my Phone, how is it going to locate my laptop if that is stolen???
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Stephen P said 6:49PM on 11-18-2008
Probably why it is free.
Stephen P said 6:55PM on 11-18-2008
I just tried the iPhone app. It had the location in my back yard about. But I was testing it outside. The GPS signal in your iPhone only works outdoors...if that is not available it reads off of cell towers which is probably why it is so off on your phone, you are sitting inside. I had the same problem with Google Maps on my iPhone until I finally figured it out. The Mac solution appears to work very differently, the SDK and hardware for an iPhone vs. a Mac are very different, comparing Apples and Oranges.
Climber said 7:02PM on 11-18-2008
These programs aren't pointless and they do work.
The reality is that most thieves aren't that smart, don't know about the theft recovery programs and how to uninstall them.
Even if they did, if you password protect your mac using the firmware password utility then a thief can't reformat the hard drive and disable the program--at least for orbicule (I don't know about the others).
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Izzy said 7:34PM on 11-18-2008
@ Paul. I agree. If a thief is going to steal a Mac, they are probably going to use it themselves and would know to yank or format the HD.
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Destro said 8:17PM on 11-18-2008
@Izzy & @Paul. Not so. More than 80% of stolen electronic goods (including cell phones, surprisingly) end up being fenced elsewhere, like pawn shops, or on web sites like eBay and Craigslist.
The chances that this kind of precaution will work for you are greater than not, so I don't see how anyone can argue against playing it safe when it comes to protecting a valuable investment like a laptop.
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snugs said 11:15PM on 11-18-2008
what if the thief doesn't turn on wifi? i always turn wifi off before putting my mbp to sleep. or maybe he does use wifi, just with a router he stole in a different place.
unless skyhook updates their router info constantly (which doesn't seem to be the case, what with all those iphones reporting incorrect locations) the thief would appear to be somewhere else.
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Erick said 2:48AM on 11-19-2008
Then you still get the IP address and a photo which is enough information to go the old school lojack route and get police involved, which you should probably do anyway.
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J said 7:27AM on 11-19-2008
even to catch the "dumbest of criminals" wouldn't this app (and others except lojack) need to somehow run in the background at the login screen? Is wifi even active there? How does this thief make it past login screen without an account?
I'd like to get one of these apps, though lojack seems the best. Am I missing something? Do any of them actually work in a "casual theft of opportunity" sort of situation as opposed to the stalker geek that wants my mbp? I mean do any of them work if the crook never gets past the login screen?
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deepquest said 7:29AM on 11-19-2008
it also suppose that you don't put password session, using automatic login. Otherwise the criminal will format the hd and make the software useless.
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climber said 11:02AM on 11-19-2008
You guys still don't get it. If you use the firmware password utility on your Mac the thief can't format the hd and disable the programs. To reformat the hd the thief must know your password. However, I imagine that quite a few people who have installed these programs haven't bothered with that extra step of securing the computer with the firmware password utility. If thats the case, then it would be relatively easy to defeat the programs.
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Colin ZeteBOy said 12:24PM on 11-19-2008
I'm not impressed with Skyhook. I have sent them my router address half a dozen times along with my home address and Maps on my iPod Touch still says I'm 700 miles from where I really am. They'd have to prove to me that it works before I'd use it exclusively on my MacBook. Right now I use Orbicule.
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consumer_q said 1:19PM on 11-19-2008
To help these programs 'work better' you can also add a guest account without password protection. Most people are lazy and curious, and will go the route of least resistance. ;-)
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DWes said 4:14PM on 11-19-2008
My only question is, does someone have to be logged in, or does it run as root on boot?
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Samuel said 8:43AM on 11-20-2008
Comments are highly valuable, I have learned:
a) To buy some location aware software for my MacBook
b) to enable a guest account, with almost everything disabled
c) enable the firmware password
Thanks.
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