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Stolen MacBook Victim Uses Screen Sharing and iSight to Bust Thieves
Posted by Adrian Covert at 5:37 AM on May 10, 2008
A White Plains, NY woman who was the victim of burglary, including her MacBook, used the Back To My Mac screen sharing feature to turn on her webcam and capture images of the unwitting culprits using the computer. As a result, police were able to arrest the thieves and recover most of the stolen goods, which included two laptops, two flat-screen televisions, two iPods, gaming consoles, DVDs and computer games.
This plan first launched into action when a co-worker of the nameless woman at the Apple Store noticed her computer online and notified the woman. She was then able to log into her computer and the rest is history. So the moral of the story is this: If you steal a MacBook, please be sure to cover the iSight with some tape. Otherwise, you could also be charged with a second degree felony. [Iohud via TUAW]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
SuperCollider
Posted 6:25 AM 10/5/08
Woo hoo! White Plains, NY represent! XD
SuperCollider
geowrian
Posted 6:08 AM 10/5/08
@Coder4Life: It's a reverse connection, not just a service listening on a port like Remote Desktop.
geowrian
booze
Posted 6:05 AM 10/5/08
be happy you still have disheveled legs to stand on you despicable malefactor.
booze
bosskev
Posted 6:05 AM 10/5/08
I went to the source story, which includes mug shots of the two arrested men. Why is it criminals always look like dipshits? Here's the URL for one of these charming gents' photo:
[cmsimg.thejournalnews.com]
What ever happened to those glamourous days when a thief could look like Cary Grant and not asswipe mutants?
In other news...
(-4)
bosskev
Adrian Covert
Posted 6:02 AM 10/5/08
@Coder4Life: back to my mac is strictly a .mac feature.
Adrian Covert
shamoononon
Posted 6:02 AM 10/5/08
What the hell does that picture have to do with it?
shamoononon
bpatten
Posted 5:59 AM 10/5/08
@Kaiser-Machead: If you manufacture that, I'll buy one.
bpatten
oopsIsharted
Posted 5:57 AM 10/5/08
where's that screen capture from that you guys used for the post? which chick is that?
oopsIsharted
killarclown
Posted 5:57 AM 10/5/08
girl in the background looks hot.. better leave her punishment to me
killarclown
Coder4Life
Posted 5:56 AM 10/5/08
how is backtomymac possible to login since your IP Address now would of changed since that person would be on a different IP service. Get it..
Story doesn't make alot of sense, unless this is some how connected to .MAC and uses some service...
Coder4Life
Sixxtwo
Posted 5:56 AM 10/5/08
Booze is good in doubleshots.....but now I am missing both arms.... hmmm
Sixxtwo
zero1
Posted 5:55 AM 10/5/08
So how do you disable this back to my mac feature?
zero1
booze
Posted 5:52 AM 10/5/08
Good.
Now where's my cleaver, someone's got an arm they don't want anymore...
booze
booze
Posted 5:50 AM 10/5/08
Good. Now where's my cleaver, someone's got an arm they don't want anymore.
booze
Kaiser-Machead
Posted 5:49 AM 10/5/08
This certainly makes the Back to my Mac feature compelling. If I was able to make the computer lethally detonate in the face of the culprit, I'd gladly sacrifice my laptop to snuff out a lowlife :P
Kaiser-Machead
blindaxs
Posted 5:49 AM 10/5/08
Too good! That's the best thing he'll have tasted for the next while!
blindaxs
smcallah
Posted 6:49 AM 10/5/08
@booze: Is it you who doesn't want the arm anymore for posting twice?
smcallah
LindsayJoy
Posted 6:35 AM 10/5/08
There are many perverted uses for Back to My Mac screen sharing...
LindsayJoy
IphtashuFitz
Posted 6:35 AM 10/5/08
@Kaiser-Machead: Just pack some plastic explosives in the case along with a USB device attached to a detonator. Of course you'd have to be VERY careful not to take it through the airport with you...
IphtashuFitz
IphtashuFitz
Posted 6:33 AM 10/5/08
I have a product called Undercover from Orbicule installed on my Macbook so I can trace it if it's stolen. The thing that sold me on their products was the success stories they have posted on their website. You can check them out here: [www.orbicule.com]
IphtashuFitz
N@tedog
Posted 7:14 AM 10/5/08
Wow. That is a sweet feature. Does Vista have this?
N@tedog
sqeakytoy of the apocalypse
Posted 7:09 AM 10/5/08
all I want is a thousand pound springs attached to either side of the laptop hinges that can be remotely triggered to snap that sucker shut on whoever is trying to handle it. That way you can give the fingers back to cops to process prints while the search the emergency wards.
sqeakytoy of the apocalypse
justinpe
Posted 7:06 AM 10/5/08
Another reason to love Macs. Let's see a Dell or HP do this out of the box.
justinpe
LJKelley
Posted 7:38 AM 10/5/08
Wouldn't a smart thief just reinstall the OS (be it Linux, Vista, or OS X) and get rid of any software that tracks you. If they don't have the discs they would STEAL them off Pirate Bay. The only thing then of course is the Serial Number and a smart theif would just not register the device.
Thats why I never bought into software that tracks your device (unless they have software in the Bios) but maybe I should since thiefs seem quite stupid.
LJKelley
homerjay
Posted 7:31 AM 10/5/08
@N@tedog: Sure but it has to be downloaded and enabled by the thief and it won't work unless he purchases a license and enables cookies using only IE.
Oh, and you need SP1.
homerjay
Step666
Posted 7:30 AM 10/5/08
@jimmyJAKE!: perhaps they figured you'd already been robbed by Apple, so doing you over twice would just be cruel... :P
Step666
jimmyJAKE!
Posted 7:20 AM 10/5/08
my mac was the only thing those damn assholes didn't take when they robbed me :( too heavy i guess
jimmyJAKE!
stinkyboy
Posted 8:15 AM 10/5/08
it's LOhud.com... not Iohud.
Lower Hudson Valley.
stinkyboy
rainfever
Posted 7:53 AM 10/5/08
jason chen?
rainfever
Accelerata
Posted 7:48 AM 10/5/08
@Coder4Life: well, a clever person might also get their IP address from the IM session. she's just lucky they weren't behind a firewall with that port blocked.
Accelerata
Faslane66
Posted 8:30 AM 10/5/08
hahahaahha What a moron, let the little prick thief rot in jail for a few years to take him down a peg.
Faslane
Faslane66
draconis2941
Posted 8:22 AM 10/5/08
@homerjay: You forgot about the $100 annual web presence fee for serivces you could find for free elsewhere aka ".Mac"
draconis2941
tamoko
Posted 8:18 AM 10/5/08
Tasty girls in tube socks... This just made my shitty day!
tamoko
yougottabekidding
Posted 8:56 AM 10/5/08
@IphtashuFitz: Or set it off in your own face, which would concern me more than getting caught at the airport with it. :)
yougottabekidding
Mandatory_Field
Posted 8:55 AM 10/5/08
@LindsayJoy: "There are many perverted uses for Back to My Mac screen sharing..."
Oh? Please do tell us some....
Mandatory_Field
OGHowie
Posted 8:41 AM 10/5/08
@LJKelley:
Fortunately, most thieves aren't smart.
OGHowie
AmbroseP
Posted 9:07 AM 10/5/08
@AmbroseP: I wish there was an edit function. Fatigue FTW!
AmbroseP
AmbroseP
Posted 9:01 AM 10/5/08
@OGHowie: Do we not include white-collar or corporate crime in the pool of thieves? Such criminals, quite often, are intelligent or the at the very least, educated, and cause more overall harm than those of the blue-collar persuasion.
AmbroseP
discounteggroll
Posted 10:24 AM 10/5/08
@SuperCollider:
[poor] Rye Brook here XD
I knew there had to be at least one other Giz commenter in Westchester county
discounteggroll
Tsumi91
Posted 10:58 AM 10/5/08
so she ended up getting the ipod(s!) back? what a shame, it's like that movie "the gods must be crazy"..the stuff just won't dissapear. and I live near westchester county...it's NOTHING like the city for those who are wondering.
Tsumi91
Syrus28
Posted 11:47 AM 10/5/08
@justinpe:
Haha. Out of the box? You have to pay $100 a YEAR to have Back to My Mac along with the other .mac services... Sorry.
Syrus28
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 11:43 AM 10/5/08
The suspect turned into a Caucasian! Good job Giz, innocent till proven guilty, I like that.
MagnoliaBoy
Unknown2U
Posted 2:02 PM 10/5/08
@Kaiser-Machead:
You mean like this guy?
[www.engadget.com]
Unknown2U
Makkuro
Posted 4:16 PM 10/5/08
Wait a second, this intelligent WOMAN has 2 laptop, owns 2 flat-screen TV, loaded with other gadgets, AND play console / computer game?? Is she hot (and still single)???
Makkuro
linoth
Posted 5:09 AM 11/5/08
@LJKelley: The ones that make good news stories are the stupid ones. The ideal solution is while the device is booting up, turn off the wireless (most have a button/switch for this) and make sure it's clean before allowing internet access. And dump your cookies while you're at it, before going to Flickr/facebook/MySpace/etc.
@Makkuro: "...when three roommates returned to their Ridgeview Avenue apartment..."
linoth
geowrian
Posted 3:58 AM 12/5/08
@LJKelley: Yes, but...
1) Most thieves aren't computer-savy. They sell the stuff or use it themselves. They would probably just assume it's a normal computer without can way to identify it like 98% or so of the consumer PC market.
2) More & more business-class computers are having hardware-level tracking built-in. For instance, on newer Dell Precision desktops, you can permanently enable, via the BIOS, a tracking device that connects to the tracking device's systems. It can also permanently disable access to the machine and/or data until the company installs a new board (in case you get the computer back). The company charges an annual fee for the service. The device sends the signal directly through hardware, so reinstalling or using any OS or any software can't prevent it. Once enabled in the BIOS, it can't be disabled without changing the hardware. If this catches on, it won't matter how smart the criminal is unless they start physically killing the network ports on the desktops or sell it for parts (minus the mobo).
geowrian
xr900
Posted 2:30 AM 11/5/08
Real Thieves DISABLE uPnP on their routers BEFORE they steal LAPTOPS!! And a post it / piece of tape would have solved your info leak even if you're too stupid to disable uPnP...
Basically.... If you're dumb, DON'T STEAL ANYTHING!!!
... DON'T STEAL ANYTHING!!
xr900
justinpe
Posted 2:27 AM 13/5/08
@Syrus28:
What options do you have with Dell, HP, Gateway? $0 a YEAR for no such service?
And, by out-of-the-box, I meant that Leopard comes pre-installed and you get a free trial of .mac, so yes, this would work out of the box for a few months anyway. Then you can pay. Either way, it is nice to have such an option.
justinpe