Laptop theft...

[andrewjm]

I was wondering if a laptop is stolen, and you know the IP address that the stolen laptop is accessing the internet on, is there anything you, yourself can do?

I know there are programs that will work with local law enforcement, but if I were to call local law enforcement myself if I had the IP address, would they do anything?

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: andrewjm
I was wondering if a laptop is stolen, and you know the IP address that the stolen laptop is accessing the internet on, is there anything you, yourself can do?

I know there are programs that will work with local law enforcement, but if I were to call local law enforcement myself if I had the IP address, would they do anything?

No--they wouldn't

The programs you mention ( like Computrace by Absolute software) are a licensed software distro and also feature call centers that monitor for the laptop. You laptop is always "phoning home" via it's lan connectivity, or modem. Once it is stolen, you create a "ticket" with the software company's call center, and they wait for the notebook to phone home the next time it connects. They are accreditted in some way with law enforcement and will have better luck getting the local police department to get a warrant, or cooperation through the connections ISP. Most, also offer the ability to push a command down to the laptop that will wipe the drive the next time/first time it connects after theft to ensure data security.

The thing to keep in mind is that the solution is only as good as you implement it. You HAVE TO disable the ability of your lappy to boot to network, CD, as well USB, to prevent the reloading of the drive while it's in the unit. Also suggested is the setting of a power on password if the lappy supports it as well a Hard drive password if the lappy supports it. (ThinkPads do.) If a HD password is set then moving the drive out to another system will not give them access to the drive.

Typical license fee is $49 with a $200 to $400 recovery fee should they get it back. remember- THe main reason you want to implement this is to protect your data, NOT THE HARDware, though if you get both back, you can be happy.

The reason I know so much is that we install Computrace on select systems at work. We've run into problems with computrace and other software apps, mainly IBM's RRPC back up program-though they have issued some fixes. We haven't had to call them yet and issue a ticket though.

I hope this helps.

 

[andrewjm]

thanks...

i am currently running computrace, but it is just an nt service, which can easily be disabled. infact, it wont even survive a format, i've tried. they claim that it will only survive a win9x format. i know most thieves wont try to do that or even think about disabling the nt service, but i password protect my winxp on boot, so i feel that if someone steals it (they may not be pluged into the net) and turns it on and it asks for a pass, they may forget about it, and just get a new hdd or just somehow format it (i know the bios disables cd/floppy boot but whatever)

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if i were to make my own ip logging program, and then i detect that the stolen laptop is online and i get the ip, why wouldnt law enforcement do anything?

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: andrewjm
thanks...

i am currently running computrace, but it is just an nt service, which can easily be disabled. infact, it wont even survive a format, i've tried. they claim that it will only survive a win9x format. i know most thieves wont try to do that or even think about disabling the nt service, but i password protect my winxp on boot, so i feel that if someone steals it (they may not be pluged into the net) and turns it on and it asks for a pass, they may forget about it, and just get a new hdd or just somehow format it (i know the bios disables cd/floppy boot but whatever)

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if i were to make my own ip logging program, and then i detect that the stolen laptop is online and i get the ip, why wouldnt law enforcement do anything?

Again -it is about either destroying data or getting the data back--not the hardware. You have to follow best practices with Computrace or any product like it to ensure the best chance of recovery. Every ThinkPAd we have has the Harddrive PW enabled. Most thieves will be stupid enough to plug it in.

Ironically, where a huge value comes into play here is in addressing internal theft. Employees generally don't know that the tracking software is on there. Can't count how many times a lappy got stolen only to be found phoning home from their(employee---errr former employee) kid's college dorm room a few weeks later.

Stupid people.

 

[andrewjm]

um... i honestly care more about the hardware than the data.. i have backups of all my data... i care more about losing $3000 than having someone viewing encrypted data that they cannot do much with

so if i had the ip of my pc on the net, could i have the law enforcement do anything??

 

[dnuggett]

That all depends on the quality of your police department, and their ability to understand what you are giving them. My department barely knew what Ebay was, they'd be lost if I said IP address.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: andrewjm
um... i honestly care more about the hardware than the data.. i have backups of all my data... i care more about losing $3000 than having someone viewing encrypted data that they cannot do much with

so if i had the ip of my pc on the net, could i have the law enforcement do anything??

Again.. No you can't have them do anything, but the Computrace call center can.

 

[Oyeve]

Doesnt computrace also mod your bios so even if you switch HDs it will still "call home"?

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
Doesnt computrace also mod your bios so even if you switch HDs it will still "call home"?

We've just been talking to our Computrace rep, and ran into them at a trade show.

They have a new version of the client that it supposed to mesh with your firmware-selectively by manufacturer -BUT... That client isn't ready yet. They say maybe by December, and that's the client that can't be wiped.

We had a R51 stolen about 8 weeks ago or so in San Diego. It turned up phoning home finally from Chicago about four weeks ago.

Absolute's call center is still working with Chicago PD to serve the warrant -for search of location/asset recovery. So, the recovery process can take awhile, and it's not instant gratification. Hopefully we'll have some good news in the next week or so.