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Laptop and Phone Thieves – You Have Become the Prey

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Prey Anti Theft

With a background in security, I have watched how various companies over the years have attempted to secure valuable portable items such as laptops and phones.

The nirvana in security for these items is enabling the ‘ordinary man’ to actively take an interest and safe action in the recovery of the stolen goods. Of course if this also makes the ‘ordinary man’ feel like James Bond 007 then you have a winner. For far too long now the police have only been interested in knowing if stolen laptops and cellphones were insured, leaving the premium hungry monsters to make their clients pay ever increasing premiums and not being part of the solution in curbing crime at all.

Couple the above with my slavish dedication to Linux and you can imagine that not very often do I find a security product that actually is ‘tailor made’ for my needs.

Until now …………

Prey is an open source (read FREE) anti theft solution for PC’s, Macs, Phones and also runs on Linux (Ubuntu 11.04).

What Prey does is deceptively simple: Prey installs a tiny agent (software) in your PC or phone, which silently waits for a remote signal to wake up and work its magic.

This signal is sent either from the Internet or through an SMS message, and allows you to gather information regarding the device’s location, hardware and network status, and optionally trigger specific actions on it.

The fun part about Prey is that you can take a picture of the thief with your laptop’s webcam so you know what he looks like and where he’s hiding. You can also programme a specific message to pop up whenever the laptop is switched on, I am thinking something along the lines of; “Congratulations, you have won R10 000.00 in our SAP Sweepstakes! Pop along to the building off Mount Road and opposite the Old Grey Club and present this laptop to Bubba Licious.” (Add your own message in the comments below)

Lots of configuration options and by using either the device’s GPS or the nearest WiFi hotspots Prey can triangulate and grab a fix on its location and is shockingly accurate.

Prey pricing works like this:

  • The Prey Free Account allows you to connect up to three devices for free.
  • The Prey Pro Account has a load more features and allows you to actively monitor devices and starts at $3.00 for the first three devices.

If you have success stalking your Prey – let us know!

Visit: Prey.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.