Laptop tracking software
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  1. #1
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    Default Laptop tracking software

    I know there's software out there that can tell you the location of a stolen laptop if the person who stole it logs on to the internet.
    Just wondering if anyone can recommend anything to go for or if there is any freeware, and if there is freeware will it do the job?
    Or are there any other measures one can take to either trace a stolen laptop or render it useless by means of some form of activation from another computer?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard kck's Avatar
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    If you want to render the data useless... you can encrypt the entire drive.

    http://www.pgp.com/products/wholedis...ion/index.html

  3. #3
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    Well the only data on there will be my music really (itunes collection). I've got music software like Traktor and Logic that'd be nice to know is unusable should the laptop go astray. But can the music collection be encrypted so that no one can enjoy my many years of hard work building it up? I don't really have sensitive documents or anything.
    And does anyone know about this tracking software at all?
    Another thing is, would it be better to get tracking software and not have a password on the laptop? I'm thinking that if there is a password they'd have to reinstall OSX to get around it, which in one way is good as they will not get any of my music or software, but it'll wipe the tracking software making it pointless to install in the first place. If there is no password they are more likely to go on the internet meaning a better chance in me tracking it down.

  4. #4
    Tech Wizard kck's Avatar
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    If you lose physical security (i.e. the laptop is stolen), it won't be to overly difficult to get the data off, password or not (I have some recovery CDs that can hack just about any password). So pretty much unless your whole drive is encrypted (which would in fact encrypt your music as well), with enough know how, someone can get to your data.

    Did a google search, found this lojack type software... http://www.absolute.com/products/lojackforlaptops

    But I have never used... the clients I have have always opted for encryption.

  5. #5
    Tech Guru sarasin's Avatar
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    Mate its too easy to get around a Mac password lockout. Just google it and you will see. Just keep it safe and with you.
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  6. #6
    DJTT Moderator bloke Karlos Santos's Avatar
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    Yeah. By the time the crack head that nicked it has bought his rocks the damn thing will have been sold and the HD swapped and then sold on again.

    Get insurance.

  7. #7
    Tech Mentor DJPhaidon's Avatar
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    Funny thing is that when I read this, I was in the physical security section of ethical hacking course

    http://www.computersecurity.com/lapt...ndex.html?id=1

    www.ztrace.com

    www.sentryinc.com

    www.computrace.com

    www.securitygroupintl.com

    I can't vouch for any of these, but they should all be available

    13" MacBook Pro 2.7 i7 w/dual Raid0 OWC SSDs - S4 - Ableton Live 8- Lemur- iPad 2

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by kck View Post
    If you lose physical security (i.e. the laptop is stolen), it won't be to overly difficult to get the data off, password or not (I have some recovery CDs that can hack just about any password). So pretty much unless your whole drive is encrypted (which would in fact encrypt your music as well), with enough know how, someone can get to your data.

    Did a google search, found this lojack type software... http://www.absolute.com/products/lojackforlaptops

    But I have never used... the clients I have have always opted for encryption.
    Cool, thanks for your help. On the encryption thing; If I were to encrypt my data (so basically my music), is there a possibility of anything conflicting with Traktor or itunes etc? The last thing I want is something that could potentially fuck up a set. Also, I take it the rest of the laptop would be usable right? Meaning if it was stolen the thief could still log on to the internet so I could potentially track it down? If this is the case I'm struggling to see how they wouldn't be able to access my music if there encryption on it. I've had a look at the link you sent but how would they not able to get to my music?
    I also obviously did a search prior to posting this and this is what I found. Thought I'd share it to help prevent anyone not being protected in some way.

    http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/index.html (Freeware)

    And I'm not sure if this is a British only thing but wouldn't hurt to register any valuables (not only laptops)

    http://juststolen.net/

    @ Sarasin; that goes without saying mate.

    @ Karlos; It's covered by contents insurance but if it were to get stolen the likelihood's are it'll be by just as you said, some crack head looking to sell it on. They will more than likely not be tech savvy and won't go about replacing the hard drive and they will also be likely to turn it on and check it all out, maybe do a bit of web surfing before offloading it. It's not about the laptop, it's about hopefully finding out where they live and kicking the door in and putting a knife to their throat (or being sensible and getting the police to kick their door in)! I'd sooner be as protected as possible if the option is there. That software I found above can actually take pictures using the built in isight camera. Nice.
    Last edited by dodge; 04-30-2010 at 03:30 PM.

  9. #9
    Tech Wizard kck's Avatar
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    The encryption software encrypts the entire drive.... when you boot the computer, you are prompted to enter your password (encryption key), then the OS starts loading. If the thief doesn't know the password, the OS will not even boot. The other benefit of course, is that if they take the hard drive out, connect it to another computer, they are still unable to access anything on the drive.

    I don't believe you would see any conflicts... as it at the file level... when I have used it in the past, I haven't had any issues with anything conflicting... but then again, I haven't tried it in this scenario.

    The tracking software wouldn't really do you much good though if you went with the entire disc encryption, as the tracking software wouldn't be able to load, as the thief wouldn't be able to even get to the OS.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by kck View Post
    The encryption software encrypts the entire drive.... when you boot the computer, you are prompted to enter your password (encryption key), then the OS starts loading. If the thief doesn't know the password, the OS will not even boot. The other benefit of course, is that if they take the hard drive out, connect it to another computer, they are still unable to access anything on the drive.

    I don't believe you would see any conflicts... as it at the file level... when I have used it in the past, I haven't had any issues with anything conflicting... but then again, I haven't tried it in this scenario.

    The tracking software wouldn't really do you much good though if you went with the entire disc encryption, as the tracking software wouldn't be able to load, as the thief wouldn't be able to even get to the OS.
    Precisely. So would there be a way to only encrypt certain things? So for example my music file. Like maybe if they tried to boot itunes or Traktor it asks for a password. Or if they went into the root folder it asks for a password. Yet if they can go into firefox as there isn't a password on it. A custom encryption basically?

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