Remote tracking software can now be used to help locate stolen computers. In Miami Beach, Florida a man was at a business meeting when someone broke into his car and stole two laptop computers. The man reported the crime to the police, who were pessimistic about finding the computers. Discouraged but dedicated to getting his computer back, the man returned home and remembered he had downloaded remote access software called LogMeIn. The software allows users to access their computer and files on computers other than their own. The man logged onto his account and for three hours watched his laptop's screen go on Facebook, check email, post on Craigslist, and go on pornographic sites. The man even watched the person taking a video of himself with the camera on the computer. The man used a video camera to tape the evidence in order to prove what he had seen to the police and after paying a website $10 he even had the person’s address that had his computer. The man went back to the police with the evidence then the police went to the home of the man who had one of the stolen computers. The person the police visited ended up not being the thief and was actually someone who had bought the computer at a barbershop. A month and a half later police caught the thief but were unable to prosecute the thief because there was not sufficient evidence.
The man did not take security precautions with either of the laptops. He did not use passwords on his username and log on. An appropriate risk management strategy for a laptop should include a password with at least one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter, one digit, and is at least eight characters long.
Going back to the first assignment, if the Veterans Affairs employee had downloaded this software there would be a chance that they got it back. It is interesting how remote tracking software was used for a reason other than its intended purpose in order to track down stolen computers.
Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/172093/an_amazing_laptop_recovery_story.html
Monday, September 21, 2009
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This post is awesome. I love the fact that the victim could use technology for good and retrieve his computer. I would like to point out how scary it is for someone to have the ability to watch your every action done on your computer from a random location. As we have learned throughout this entire class, retrieving/hacking computers and passwords is definitely a possibility. It makes you wonder if someone with authorization on your school network or even someone who hacks into the network may be watching you surf the web and slowly stealing your entire identity. After reading this, I will never check my bank account on a public location. It is great to see technology catch thieves but also scary to see the possibilities that are opening for hackers.
ReplyDeleteThis case leaves me wondering about a lot of things. It does remind me of how easy it is for others to somehow get a program onto my computer that would track every screen or keystroke. Also, these remote access programs are pretty much common place now on Windows and Mac operating systems, you just need to set them up. Another things this makes me think about is how far am I willing to go to protect myself. Once you get beyond basic smart protection (passwords, firewalls, anti-ware, not opening strange e-mails, sticking with authenticated sites, etc.) it seems like it just becomes too much of a hassle to deal with. There comes a certain point when I'm just willing to accept the risk. If I need to check my bank account on a public computer, I'm going to do it. That doesn't mean I wouldn't try to avoid it if I don't have to.
ReplyDeleteChances are there is someone or some program watching my every move. I feel like chances are that my identity is probably not being slowly stolen and that whoever is watching me doesn't really care what I'm doing unless I all of a sudden go crazy. Maybe I'm a fool though, I guess I'm just willing to put more faith men or think that I really don't have much anyone would want.
(I also, do find it humorous though that this guy sat there and watched some other guy on his computer for like 3 hours before he did anything.)
I think it's incredibly beneficial yet costly to have this software at our disposal. I agree with Italian that I too am never going to check my bank statements, or sensitive information on a public system ever again, it's just too dangerous. For all I know there is a camera in the keyboard staring at the screen. It just seems like this stuff is a double-edged sword. Sure we can use it to ensure appropriate use of a computer (employers, parents with "curious" kids), but then again for all we know Hackers are sitting at their computers, watching our actions like reality TV. It's comforting to think that you need to have the software manually installed onto your computer, seeing as how most people get their computers directly from the manufacturer these days and it doesn't really have a chance to be tampered with by a third party. So hopefully most people won't have this software on there without their knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThis whole thing just reminds me of that Will Smith movie, Enemy of the State. I want to keep my imagination on a leash, but I can't help but worry about the Feds watching my every move, seeing how much I enjoy watching useless youtube, and having it somehow be used in a malicious attack against me. Hopefully ethics will prevail in this case.
Like some have sad, I was just wondering as well could this software be used for the wrong purposes? I know this article is about how he used it to find out who took his computer. But I was wondering if people use that program in a negative way as well, such as in spying on people? It seems to be a easy thing to do. This came into my mind when I read that the person was able to see how the webcam was being used. It looks like all you have to do is download the software on someones computer. You could even program it on a computer and give it or sell it to someone. Sounds a bit scary to me. Good article though and I liked how clever he was to come up with this idea. He must have surely enjoyed what he was watching cause he did watch it for a while.Being it this class makes you want to never do anything. Now i'm watching my every move. Someone probably watching it too :(
ReplyDeleteI think that this post was an incredibly innovative way to track criminals today. I think it is amazing that people can find out what is being done on their computer from a remote location. This shows the amazing possibilities that are created from technology. I also feel like this could be a procedure for the future to protect all personal laptop computers. Using this technology, we could prevent possible thefts from happening in the future, and we could catch the criminals who steal personal computers to protect them.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how the man was careless and naive enough to leave two laptops in his car with no password logins, yet he was clever enough to know how to track the location of his computer via a remote access program he downloaded.
ReplyDeletePerhaps operating system providers should consider integrating some sort of remote access program or some sort of GPS in order to help people locate their stolen or lost laptops. With all of the important information (very often without any sort of backup) that are on personal computers today, a misplaced or stolen laptop can be devastating. I think that this sort of technology, if marketed for location purposes, would be very attractive to computer-owning consumers.