[G4] Stolen Powerbook

[Richard Bright]

Alex wrote:

>>  [...] the lab she had rented was broken into and some low-lifers
>> stole everything that wasn't bolted down [...]
>
> Tough. In such circumstances (going abroad with a laptop), you should
> always protect your Mac with an Open Firmware password. It won't
> prevent your Mac from being stolen, but at least it will protect your
> personal data (passwords, e-mails with confidential info, bank
> accounts, etc.)

yeah, thanks Alex. My wife and I have gone back and forth, wet and
cold, on the use of locking the Open Firmware with a pass... we have
never actually done that for several reasons. And there was no
sensitive personal data on the 'Book in any event as this machine
was used regularly by a variety of students and I usually went in as
root for routine maintenance, etc.

>>  [...] I remember reading somewhere that Apple keeps a list of
>> missing/stolen computer IDs in the event one of these machines
>> surfaces at a authorised dealer or service center.
>
> I don't know about this (I'd be curious to know, too), but there are
> several third-party apps which do stuff like that -- LapCop and
> TrackYourMac come to mind.

TrackYourMac 102 was onboard... but I'm not holding my breath on
that one coming through. These guys were fairly sophisticated in
their burglary techniques and they seemed to know exactly what to
take and what to leave behind. I'm guessing their fence(s) will have
a similar level of expertise, but of course you never know so it's
good to know that base is covered. My thinking is that someday (?),
somewhere (?), the TBook might turn up in somebody's shop having
been brought in by someone who knows not how crispy the unit
actually is. Hopefully, said shop will have access to the database
and our info will be in there...

Pax wrote:

> This does presuppose that the drive hasn't been wiped and formatted but
> how many thieves go thru the trouble of keeping various OS disks laying
> around?  They want to dump the goods post haste.  That's why tracing a
> machine as it gets logged into various servers does at least provide a
> trail.  For that matter, a log of email checks should not be hard to
> find.  If Mail had a password stored for her university acc't, ask the
> university IT staff to check their logs to see if an odd IP showed up.
> They should be able to track the IP to the provider.  Best of luck.
> Pax,

thanks Pastor Mac, good idea... we'll give our IT guy a ring asap.

db
Herzogenburg, Austria