[Noisebridge-discuss] tracking software for missing laptops / androids

[Chrysanthemum Hyphus]

One of the nice things about Prey is that it runs on Mac, Windows, and
Linux. I have it on my Mac desktop and Windows & Linux dual boot laptop
under both OSs and it works great. One weakness of software-only tracking on
at least some machines (and my laptop in particular) is that despite having
a password on the BIOS, it is still possible to override the boot order,
which I would prefer to have set to always boot from the hard drive first
(or even better, *only*) unless a password is entered. Thus someone could
still boot it up initially with an OS install DVD and wipe it clean before
Prey or anything else ever got to run.

Of course it's still worth installing something like this since most people
aren't that savvy.

Has anyone found a way to replace a BIOS with one that would make a laptop
into a paperweight without a password even if the boot hard drive were
replaced? It'd be nice if it were *impossible* to make my computer function
other than the way I want it to without a very long password like those at
https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm.

-Chrysanthemum

On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 9:33 PM, Erik Nelson <erik.nels0n99 at gmail.com>wrote:

> From the AP's SSID and MAC address you can narrow it down with SkyHook. Or
> you can fake out Google and other Wifi geolocation services. ;D
> On Sep 17, 2011 10:15 PM, "Brian Morris" <cymraegish at gmail.com> wrote:
> > wow, thanks !
> >
> > On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 9:10 PM, Jake <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
> >
> >> http://preyproject.com/
> >>
> >> i just installed this. its FOSS and if you're hardcore you can run it
> >> without using their website (but you have to configure it for your mail
> >> server). Accounts on their website are free and let you get all the info
> >> you could possibly get, no reason for a pro account. (except waiting
> less
> >> than ten minutes for a report)
> >>
> >> I activated my device as "missing" and a report came in ten minutes
> later,
> >> with a picture of me (i did not notice the webcam light come on even
> >> though i was looking for it) and a bunch of other info.
> >>
> >> of course it put the IP address from which my laptop was connecting to
> the
> >> internet, but whatever service they're using to get an actual location
> >> from that only resolves to downtown oakland, 3.4 miles away.
> >>
> >> -jake
> >>
> >> Active Internet connections (including servers)
> >> Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address (state)
> >> tcp4 0 0 192.168.10.43.59063 beacon.newrelic..http
> >> ESTABLISHED
> >> tcp4 0 0 192.168.10.43.58975 www-12-06-prn1.f.http
> >> ESTABLISHED
> >> tcp4 0 0 192.168.10.43.58894 channel-36-37.01.http
> >> ESTABLISHED
> >> tcp4 0 0 192.168.10.43.57870 artsf1.spaz.org.ssh
> >> ESTABLISHED
> >> tcp4 0 0 192.168.10.43.57865 74.125.224.109.https
> >> ESTABLISHED
> >> tcp4 0 0 *.kerberos *.* LISTEN
> >> tcp6 0 0 *.kerberos *.* LISTEN
> >> tcp4 0 0 *.afpovertcp *.* LISTEN
> >> tcp6 0 0 *.afpovert *.* LISTEN
> >> tcp4 0 0 localhost.ipp *.* LISTEN
> >> tcp6 0 0 localhost.ipp *.* LISTEN
> >>
> >> agrCtlRSSI: -62
> >> agrExtRSSI: 0
> >> agrCtlNoise: -96
> >> agrExtNoise: 0
> >> state: running
> >> op mode: station
> >> lastTxRate: 54
> >> maxRate: 54
> >> lastAssocStatus: 0
> >> 802.11 auth: open
> >> link auth: none
> >> BSSID: 0:13:49:d1:db:1e
> >> SSID: ZyXEL
> >> MCS: -1
> >> channel: 11
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> >> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/attachments/20110917/74c1751e/attachment-0003.html>