Cool Stolen MacBook Pro Recovery Story

[Willis]

no, you should never give that much control other your laptop to anyone, duh! if there's a weakness in their software, imagine what a bad intentioned person could do

yeah.. watch porn and WOW.

I honestly think its a great piece of software. the recover mode only activates when the server has it flagged, and thats only when you phone orbicule to tell them (after you tell them the code that relates your laptop to their server)

I think people need to read more about it before they start flaming it.

 

[ladysoverignXP]

Macbook and a used handgun... good use for $25

 

[hotboiled]

+- the same but this is free
http://www.zdziarski.com/projects/maclojack/

and you get acces to your own spcace where the screenshots and data is uploaden

 

[iW00t]

I'd say there's a medicine cabinet, shower curtain, and bath towels behind him. He also doesn't appear to be wearing too much clothing. Convenient for looking at porn, no?

I'd burn the computer after I get it back

"What is that brown stain at the bottom?"

 

[cynerjist]

I don't believe that story for a second... And why is the "thief" black? That is so racist.

 

[jsw]

I don't believe that story for a second... And why is the "thief" black? That is so racist.

I noted that the promised "other stories" never showed up, even months later. Perhaps they made up the first one and were expecting real ones to happen?

 

[lexus]

Does any one here use Orbicule who could comment on this?

 

[clevin]

this is scary, even if you are the legal owner, what prevent them from spying on you?

 

[clevin]

yeah.. watch porn and WOW.

I honestly think its a great piece of software. the recover mode only activates when the server has it flagged, and thats only when you phone orbicule to tell them (after you tell them the code that relates your laptop to their server)

I think people need to read more about it before they start flaming it.

not legally binding, cant be trusted, its like user willingly install a spyware on their own mac. lol

 

[Starflyer]

Look on the bright side, if they don't recover your MacBook they will refund your $25

 

[p0intblank]

If this story is true, then that's awesome! And if not... meh.

 

[JDN]

This might have been asked already, but how can the company control the iSight from a different location? And also, wouldnt the little green light next to it come on?

 

[Willis]

This might have been asked already, but how can the company control the iSight from a different location? And also, wouldnt the little green light next to it come on?

Its the software you install that makes the isight turn on. However, it only comes on when the software is told the computer has been stolen by the servers at orbicule.

As for the green light... I've emailed orbicule today asking about it. But seeing as its Christmas holidays, I dont know when I'll get a reply. When I do, I'll post it here.

I noted that the promised "other stories" never showed up, even months later. Perhaps they made up the first one and were expecting real ones to happen?

Yeah, I noticed that too. They said around WWDC they had success stories but were waiting for the local authorities to wrap the case's up. Also, Orbicule clearly state that they will try and post recover stories but due to privacy reasons, it isnt't exactly easy. They first have to ask permission of the victim, and then you have to hide the identity of the burgular.

 

[YS2003]

If the thief is watching a porn on the stoten Mac and iSight camera catches him and whatever his "actions (which can be said "touching")" are during his viewing of the porn, I believe his hands are not that clean. Even if I recover my stolen Mac under these circumstances, it would be sold off right away. I recall one of the Seinfeld episodes that a book used in the toilet is "flagged" and is not sellable or donatable.

 

[southbark]

i don't believe this story one bit, and as a professional laptop thieve i tell you that the first thing a real pro do is remove the hard drive and install a new one so the software is pointless the only way to really be safe is to have hardware chip to do that

Considering some of the horror storys of users trying to replace there MBP hard drives i doubt theis are doing that on a regular basis.Besidesif you report it fast enough you might get lucky they have to open the computer sooner or later and besides what better way to sell a laptop then with all those expensive apps and 40 gigs of music on it.

Most laptop thefts (in the bay area) are easy thefts as in grab and sprint out the starbucks thefts.If it is chained up it is not worth it to them because it takes to long and trust me a second or two makes a theif twice

 

[DeepIn2U]

I don't believe that story for a second... And why is the "thief" black? That is so racist.

Hmm at first look I felt the same way. I'm black but I dont feel this way. But the wording from the site. However the wording of the site makes the assumption that the person photographed is a thief first before stating confirmation from police that he IS the culprit

" 7:54 AM
Just 6 minutes after the MacBook was connected, our recovery center receives snapshots of the thief, taken with the MacBook's built-in iSight camera. The iSight camera really is a great tool for identifying the thief. The iSight pictures we receive clearly show the current user of the MacBook, most likely the thief himself (later, we received confirmation that this was indeed the thief).

Dang I could have purchased a MBP hot and that would've tooken pictures of me - when I didnt steal it. Most theif's are smart enough not to use computers but sell them ASAP so it cannot be linked to them. Ever buy stereo speakers off the back of a truck thats still SEALED in the shipping box with staples? I would have years ago if I had the cash. Now, after having a family and working so hard for my hard earned dollar and fixing my credit I'd never own a stolen piece of property. (That song "Paid in Full" by Rakim comes to mind

I used to be a stickup kid, but now I think of all the devious things I did" .... "but now I earn, cause I'm righteous"

 

[Willis]

Heres the email.

From : Orbicule <support@orbicule.com>
Sent : 27 December 2006 10:13:29
To : Mr Will <sleep_4_a_while@hotmail.com>
Subject : Re: iSight question

Hi William,

Thanks for your interest in Undercover!
Unfortunately, the green light does work when we take iSight pictures. It's only for a few seconds, but still. The problem is that the light has been hard-wired by Apple, there is no possibility to bypass it.
best,

Peter

On 26 Dec 2006, at 22:23, Mr Will wrote:

Hello. I first heard of Undercover around June and followed uptil WWDC. Just checked in and saw the recovery of the stolen laptop.. well done!

However, I do have a question. When the iSight starts to take pictures, does the green light actually come on? If it didn't, then Undercover is more stealthy than I thought!

Look forward to your reply

William Ziccardi

 

[badabing2005]

Cool story fun to read. Not sure I would want anyone else controlling my Mac let alone iSight

 

[Irish Dave]

http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/recovery.html

Very very cool.

Very, very scary!!!!!


Dave

 

[celaurie]

Very kewl story... However slightly worrying. I think I might pop a piece of black tape over my iSight. You never know who might be trying to watch!

~cel

 

[cardiac dave]

Does any one here use it?

I bought a household license last year, and have used it on a G4 iBook, G5 iMac and now my newest Macbook Pro. None have been stolen, so no good stories for ya.

It runs in the background, all but invisible unless you know exactly what you're looking for and how to find it. It sends out a short 'ping' to Orbicules servers every 6 minutes to check if it's in the database of stolen computers.

Impossible to remove unless you're running as admin.

If you follow the instructions to password protect any admin accounts, leave a dummy user account open without password, and password protect the ability to boot from a CD/DVD/External Disk, I don't see how you could hack it.

 

[cardiac dave]

Ever buy stereo speakers off the back of a truck thats still SEALED in the shipping box with staples? I would have years ago if I had the cash. Now, after having a family and working so hard for my hard earned dollar and fixing my credit I'd never own a stolen piece of property. (That song "Paid in Full" by Rakim comes to mind

News Flash - those speakers out of the back of the truck aren't stolen. They're just cheap, and the story that they sell you leads you to believe that they're worth much more than you'll pay.

I had a friend get taken by this scam about 10 years ago. (yes a friend, not me)

I think the name brand was "Audio Acoustics". After he'd bought them ($250 for the pair), I convinced him to call up an Audio shop to gauge what they were actually worth. When he did, the guy on the phone just laughed and said "Yeah, they're the crap you buy out of the back of a van"

But I digress... just wanted to point out that tidbit.

 

[Eraserhead]

Does any one here use it?

Yeah, I have it installed, with the Firmware password etc. At least here in the UK 50%+ of crime is committed by drug addicts, they aren't going to be able to disable a firmware password. One of the reasons it may have taken so long is because Orbicle is based in Europe not the US, so convincing the law enforcement agencies to help was probably quite difficult.

 

[brbubba]

If the thief is watching a porn on the stoten Mac and iSight camera catches him and whatever his "actions (which can be said "touching")" are during his viewing of the porn, I believe his hands are not that clean. Even if I recover my stolen Mac under these circumstances, it would be sold off right away. I recall one of the Seinfeld episodes that a book used in the toilet is "flagged" and is not sellable or donatable.

I fully agree. I was laughing out loud at that pick of him nekkid and on the toilet. Can you say, put on latex gloves, backup all data, lysol the thing, wipe drive, sell on ebay as quickly as possible. That is truly gross.

 

[cynerjist]

I'm not a lawyer or anything.

But I seriously doubt the ISP just hands over the information at that speed, to a third-party company no less. I am sure they would but a judge would have to sign off on a subpoena or something and that would take much longer than this story states. It would have to be a big investigation and crime to get that kind of cooperation and speed.

People, this story is crap, use your heads.