Let the hunt begin

Orbicule, a company based in Belgium, has produced software called Undercover that is designed to track a stolen Macintosh computer.

A victim of a theft informs the company, either by email or phone, using a machine-specific code provided at the time of initialisation and online registration. A database is then activated and the hunt can begin.

A computer using Undercover sends out a signal when online. In normal circumstances, nothing happens, but when the database is activate, the fun begins.

Details of the IP numbers (internal and external) transmitted by the lost computer are sent to the police officer in the case and to the Internet service provider (ISP) so that they can expect contact from the police.

With cooperation, the physical location of the computer is found and the police can then act. As well as the IP details, the software installed will take screen shots while the computer is being used. In some cases (such as email) these can help identify the new user.

The latest Macs also have iSight cameras installed and Undercover also takes a picture, so that the miscreant can be positively identified.

The Orbicule web site is at http://www.orbicule.com

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Sunday April 08, 2007