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Nicked laptops call for help
Nibble
Retriever barks
Wednesday, 4 March 2009, 14:13
AN OUTFIT CALLED FRONTDOOR SOFTWARE has penned a new security application, called Retriever that will make your laptop shout for help if it is stolen.
Anyone in the vicinity of the half inched machine will hear audio tracks such as 'Help! This laptop is reported lost or stolen', and, 'You are not my owner. Return me now!'.
Frontdoor are offering the software as a download with a 90-day free trial for Windows XP and Vista (Mac support coming soon). After that it's just $29.95 for a 3-year license. µ
L'Inq
Geek
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that's just plain stupid
power off the notebook/pull the battery/ then reformat
very dumb idea
The first thing any thief is going to do is format the machine . Whats needed is a hardware key that stops you tinkering with the software load . How hard could it be to produce a program that pulls the motherboard and drive serials and locks them into a hardware key that has to be plugged in to format or restore the machine . I imagine TPM could be modified to work this way . Only then would a piece of software like this be worth anything .
Most thieves aren't that smart, which is why they are stealing in the first place. I bet half of them would be a bit stumped and just chuck the laptop in a bin, or ask a friend to fix it for them.
If the friend does fix it for them, then the friend is an accomplice and should be looking at prison time. The circle widens and more people know about them stealing, someone is going to grass on them sooner or later.
It's a funny article, and it's a funny mental picture to think of a thief trying to sell a laptop that shouts it's stolen when he shows it off. lol.
15 inch laptop, brand new, £300 or less right now. With current economy I expect to see some 15 inchers for £250 by the end of the summer.