Prey - found your stolen laptop

MartinZ · 2009-04-15 02:39:08

I just wanna tell you about a new wonderfull app I've found: prey. This little scripts keeps track of what is being done with your laptop, takes a screenshot and a picture of the user (if webcam available) and sends it to your email.

It's just perfect!!
prey.bootlog.org

Wra!th · 2009-04-15 08:06:43

MartinZ wrote:

I just wanna tell you about a new wonderfull app I've found: prey. This little scripts keeps track of what is being done with your laptop, takes a screenshot and a picture of the user (if webcam available) and sends it to your email.
It's just perfect!!
prey.bootlog.org

If I'd steal/find a laptop, first thing I'd do would be to browse it, then reinstall. Doubt anyone would take it home and hook it up to the internet. Muggers/thiefs aren't that dumb...after all...they did manage to take it away from you

arch0r · 2009-04-15 08:49:24

wouldn't even work because my hd is encrypted. lal

Netsu · 2009-04-15 09:52:44

Wra!th wrote:

If I'd steal/find a laptop, first thing I'd do would be to browse it, then reinstall. Doubt anyone would take it home and hook it up to the internet. Muggers/thiefs aren't that dumb...after all...they did manage to take it away from you

You can always lend your laptop to a friend and then spy on him. A nerdy gadget.

Wra!th · 2009-04-15 09:53:04

arch0r wrote:

wouldn't even work because my hd is encrypted. lal

Yeah..those are really impossible to reuse

moljac024 · 2009-04-15 10:05:21

Wra!th wrote:

arch0r wrote:
wouldn't even work because my hd is encrypted. lal
Yeah..those are really impossible to reuse

lol

SkonesMickLoud · 2009-04-15 14:00:22

Pretty cool little script. I have it set up to run on boot, and start of any graphical environment. Gonna figure a way to make it a true daemon so I can stop and start it easily. Don't need it taking pictures of me all the time...

Wra!th · 2009-04-15 14:06:29

I seriouslly wouldn't recommend anyone use this thing..it's a security issue that you actually chose to have..not cool at all..

SkonesMickLoud · 2009-04-15 14:16:47

Wra!th wrote:

I seriouslly wouldn't recommend anyone use this thing..it's a security issue that you actually chose to have..not cool at all..

How so?

Wra!th · 2009-04-15 14:29:27

SkonesMickLoud wrote:

Wra!th wrote:
I seriouslly wouldn't recommend anyone use this thing..it's a security issue that you actually chose to have..not cool at all..
How so?

Would you really want your laptop to have the option of sending a picture of yourself over the internet everytime you boot it? The example "success" case has nothing to do with this application, plus it's a lucky case... I doubt this will help 1 in 1000 users grab their laptops back

whoops · 2009-04-15 14:45:57

How about this setup:

- Make an extra grub entry called "rescue root" or "admin" or something
- Have it mount a vanilla/minimal ubuntu with sudo removed on a spare partition or something
- Spread some "random secret files" or something, stuff that looks personal, generate a huge mess in some subfolder.
- Create some imaginary Email accounts with saved encrypted passwords (or ICQ or something)
- Put some fake ebay, paypal, WoW, etc. mails into thunderbird. Stuff like "Password retrieval mails". (THAT's bait.)
- Put an sshfs mount to a nonexistant server and a "full access" in fstab and a imaginary "full access" ssl key in home directory... or something
- Install some crappy games, spread multiple starters to each of them all over the desktop, mixed with random downloads and stuff (everything that makes the owner look more stupid and thus harmless).
- Integrate your script as invisible daemon on "rescue root" runlvl 1 or something

Me like Paranoia!

*warning, thread might contain a lot of "or something's"!

SkonesMickLoud · 2009-04-15 14:46:59

Wra!th wrote:

SkonesMickLoud wrote:
Wra!th wrote:
I seriouslly wouldn't recommend anyone use this thing..it's a security issue that you actually chose to have..not cool at all..
How so?
Would you really want your laptop to have the option of sending a picture of yourself over the internet everytime you boot it? The example "success" case has nothing to do with this application, plus it's a lucky case... I doubt this will help 1 in 1000 users grab their laptops back

I rarely reboot and restart Openbox maybe once or twice between reboots, so it really doesn't send anything from my e-mail account to my other e-mail account very often. It's also not about sending out a picture of yourself, it's intent is to send out a picture of whoever's sitting behind your computer at boot time.

Yeah, the case shown doesn't use this, but it's the same general idea. A picture is better than nothing.

LeoSolaris · 2009-04-15 14:58:10

@whoops: That's a rather clever idea. If you disable the autoboot feature in Grub, and add your real partitions that you actually use in a secondary menu that says something like "Maintenance junk" and have "Ubuntu 8.04 blah blah some kernel that's out of date" as the first selectable boot option... That way you do not need to dedicate a huge partition to it.

D-Locked · 2009-04-15 20:18:12

What if the thief is away grabbing some coffee, while the laptop boots

moljac024 · 2009-04-15 23:54:05

Or if the thief boots the laptop while he doesn't have any internet access ?

pyther · 2009-04-16 00:17:14

I see the usefulness of this program. Granted if any of us were to take a laptop we'd know what to do. If we wanted to browse the disk we'd use a livecd. But if a coworker, student, or general person would steal it they'd be clueless. More than likely they'll have no idea how to operate our machine. However, if there is some type of open wlan network you might have a fighting chance of recovering your laptop. As it would probably only take 30 seconds to send the email with a an attachment.

According to the site it checks to see if a url exists. So from my understanding it will only activate when that url exists, but by the time you activate the url it might be to late. This would be a great program to have for a college student. Most campuses have unprotected wlan networks and laptop theft in colleges is high.

kensai · 2009-04-16 02:43:02

moljac024 wrote:

Or if the thief boots the laptop while he doesn't have any internet access ?

Well, this one is very likely, it makes the whole script be not so useful, since laptops rely mostly on wireless and most wireless networks have encryptions. Having said that all wireless networks withouth encryption won't be started autmatically, you ahve to connect to them. So the question is, will the script take the photo as soon as it connects? Anyways, I know that if he is a thief, he uses Windows so he wouldn't know how to connect a wireless network in Linux.

Another case scenario, he boots the laptop and see Arch Linux scrolling, he gets scared and turn it off, reinstalls with windows on the next boot.

SkonesMickLoud · 2009-04-16 04:03:24

kensai wrote:

moljac024 wrote:
Or if the thief boots the laptop while he doesn't have any internet access ?
Well, this one is very likely, it makes the whole script be not so useful, since laptops rely mostly on wireless and most wireless networks have encryptions. Having said that all wireless networks withouth encryption won't be started autmatically, you ahve to connect to them. So the question is, will the script take the photo as soon as it connects? Anyways, I know that if he is a thief, he uses Windows so he wouldn't know how to connect a wireless network in Linux.
Another case scenario, he boots the laptop and see Arch Linux scrolling, he gets scared and turn it off, reinstalls with windows on the next boot.

Yes, it attempts to connect to any networks in range.

It's obviously not designed to catch everything, so if someone were smart enough to explore the HDD with a livecd and then format, you'd be SOL. But again, a slim chance is bwtter than no chaznce.

fumbles · 2009-04-16 06:17:34

I have of those free subdomains so i can connected to my computer without remembering my ip address... now my isp is setup to give me an ip address dynamically, so i have to use ddns... as a cron job every hour it checks to see if it needs updating to a new ip address. I also run ssh on this computer. Now if someone stole it all and connected it to the internet all I would have to do is to ssh to my domain. You could do the same with a laptop.

MartinZ · 2009-04-17 01:49:40

SkonesMickLoud wrote:

kensai wrote:
moljac024 wrote:
Or if the thief boots the laptop while he doesn't have any internet access ?
Well, this one is very likely, it makes the whole script be not so useful, since laptops rely mostly on wireless and most wireless networks have encryptions. Having said that all wireless networks withouth encryption won't be started autmatically, you ahve to connect to them. So the question is, will the script take the photo as soon as it connects? Anyways, I know that if he is a thief, he uses Windows so he wouldn't know how to connect a wireless network in Linux.
Another case scenario, he boots the laptop and see Arch Linux scrolling, he gets scared and turn it off, reinstalls with windows on the next boot.
Yes, it attempts to connect to any networks in range.
It's obviously not designed to catch everything, so if someone were smart enough to explore the HDD with a livecd and then format, you'd be SOL. But again, a slim chance is bwtter than no chaznce.

That's right what I mean.

Blue Peppers · 2009-04-17 10:58:12

whoops wrote:

How about this setup:
- Make an extra grub entry called "rescue root" or "admin" or something
- Have it mount a vanilla/minimal ubuntu with sudo removed on a spare partition or something
- Spread some "random secret files" or something, stuff that looks personal, generate a huge mess in some subfolder.
- Create some imaginary Email accounts with saved encrypted passwords (or ICQ or something)
- Put some fake ebay, paypal, WoW, etc. mails into thunderbird. Stuff like "Password retrieval mails". (THAT's bait.)
- Put an sshfs mount to a nonexistant server and a "full access" in fstab and a imaginary "full access" ssl key in home directory... or something
- Install some crappy games, spread multiple starters to each of them all over the desktop, mixed with random downloads and stuff (everything that makes the owner look more stupid and thus harmless).
- Integrate your script as invisible daemon on "rescue root" runlvl 1 or something
Me like Paranoia!

*warning, thread might contain a lot of "or something's"!

I did something like this. The system was archlinux, but with a nice splash screen (so as not to scare the theif) and a firefox autostart with a random email account autologin. Instead of this script to take pictures, my script shredded the hard drive, repartitioned it, filled it with random data, then re-shredded it, and emailed me. After all that was done, it left one file one one NFTS partition on the disk, with my contact details, and stating that the machine was stolen (so if the thief got someone else to recover data from it/get it working again, they would see it). As for protecting from livecds, I locked my BIOS.

Lexion · 2009-04-18 23:46:06

People who use linux everyday cannot use my laptop anyway. My setup is too complicated. Like my mind.

moljac024 · 2009-04-19 06:52:11

Blue Peppers wrote:

whoops wrote:
How about this setup:
- Make an extra grub entry called "rescue root" or "admin" or something
- Have it mount a vanilla/minimal ubuntu with sudo removed on a spare partition or something
- Spread some "random secret files" or something, stuff that looks personal, generate a huge mess in some subfolder.
- Create some imaginary Email accounts with saved encrypted passwords (or ICQ or something)
- Put some fake ebay, paypal, WoW, etc. mails into thunderbird. Stuff like "Password retrieval mails". (THAT's bait.)
- Put an sshfs mount to a nonexistant server and a "full access" in fstab and a imaginary "full access" ssl key in home directory... or something
- Install some crappy games, spread multiple starters to each of them all over the desktop, mixed with random downloads and stuff (everything that makes the owner look more stupid and thus harmless).
- Integrate your script as invisible daemon on "rescue root" runlvl 1 or something
Me like Paranoia!

*warning, thread might contain a lot of "or something's"!
I did something like this. The system was archlinux, but with a nice splash screen (so as not to scare the theif) and a firefox autostart with a random email account autologin. Instead of this script to take pictures, my script shredded the hard drive, repartitioned it, filled it with random data, then re-shredded it, and emailed me. After all that was done, it left one file one one NFTS partition on the disk, with my contact details, and stating that the machine was stolen (so if the thief got someone else to recover data from it/get it working again, they would see it). As for protecting from livecds, I locked my BIOS.

My BIOS is locked and so is grub (so someone can't just go into runlevel 1 ), but resetting the BIOS password is always an option - it is harder for laptops, but it is definitely doable.

HuckleSmothered · 2012-01-06 21:23:59

I know this is an old topic, but still relevant, I think.

Most of these replies are discussing a thief using the laptop and getting your personal data. Sure, just by using Linux we are making it more difficult for the average thief to do anything useful.

But it seems to me that Prey is not about protecting your data. It's about recovering the device.

It's like the Droid app "Where's My Droid." iPhones have similar ones. It turns on the necessary utilities and helps you locate it when it is either lost or stolen. I think it is silly to /not/ have an app like this. To /not/ have a lost/stolen plan.

So what's your plan of action if you lose your laptop in a coffee joint (i.e. travel a lot with it and days after not using it you don't know where you last left it) and/or someone steals your computer (i.e. leave it for a second unattended at a coffee shop or something and it's lifted)? Assuming you have things properly protected so that is not an issue. Can you recover the device? Do you even have an option to do so even if the chances are slim?

As far as I know, software like Prey are the only potential possibilities to recover the device.

I'm just looking into it now, but if it requires an open wireless network, I think it's useless. If it works once it is connected, sure, useful. For my setup at least. Doesn't take a genius to see a wireless looking icon on the taskbar and click on it to get the wicd gui. Anyone should be able to connect to their own wireless network with the gui available.

Then again, if they steal it, they have to login to an account, yes? I doubt a thief could hack into my account. We're talking very few thieves are technical enough for that. Statistically zero. I guess a simple account password prompt might make Prey useless for me.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-04-15 02:39:08

Prey - found your stolen laptop

#2 2009-04-15 08:06:43

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#3 2009-04-15 08:49:24

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#4 2009-04-15 09:52:44

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#5 2009-04-15 09:53:04

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#6 2009-04-15 10:05:21

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#7 2009-04-15 14:00:22

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#8 2009-04-15 14:06:29

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#9 2009-04-15 14:16:47

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#10 2009-04-15 14:29:27

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#11 2009-04-15 14:45:57

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#12 2009-04-15 14:46:59

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#13 2009-04-15 14:58:10

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#14 2009-04-15 20:18:12

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#15 2009-04-15 23:54:05

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#16 2009-04-16 00:17:14

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#17 2009-04-16 02:43:02

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#18 2009-04-16 04:03:24

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#19 2009-04-16 06:17:34

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#20 2009-04-17 01:49:40

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#21 2009-04-17 10:58:12

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#22 2009-04-18 23:46:06

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#23 2009-04-19 06:52:11

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

#24 2012-01-06 21:23:59

Re: Prey - found your stolen laptop

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