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

[Erik Nelson]

Well, there's the write-lock switch on SD cards.. I'm not entirely sure on
what level this works, but I suspect it's low enough to be useful for this.
On Sep 17, 2011 11:34 PM, "Jake" <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
> while turning my laptop into a paperweight would punish a potential thief,

> i think that theives probably throw lots of valuable things in the trash
> and move onto the next theft, so it wouldn't affect anything. At least if
> it still worked, the thief would sell it to some lucky kid who would get a

> nice laptop for a decent price.
>
> however, if i wanted to meet that lucky kid even IF the hard drive had
> been replaced, i would do the following:
>
> install a USB key inside the computer, wired to a spare USB port in there
> (or to an actual external port if necessary, or add a tiny hub inside)
>
> make that USB key read-only somehow (if possible - may not be possible)
>
> put tracking software on that key in the form of a windows virus with
> autorun.inf, or mac executable with an enticing name.
>
> eventually, even after a fresh install, the user is bound to click on it
> (or windows will install it automagically) and you're tracking again.
>
> -jake
>
> ps anyone know a hardware-switchable read-only USB key?
>
> Chrysanthemum Hyphus wrote:
>
> 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
>
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