Security cables failed – LoJack for Laptops succeeds

A University of Maryland student decided to purchase a little peace of mind when purchasing his laptop online. He had Computrace LoJack for Laptops installed to protect his new machine.

Sure enough, the ‘unthinkable’ happened just three months later: the student’s laptop, as well as those belonging to his two roommates, disappeared from their dorm room. Although all three laptops were tethered to desks with security cables, the cables were simply ripped from the laptops and left behind. Campus police were not optimistic about the chances for recovery when informed about the heist.

The student contacted the Absolute Theft Recovery Team within minutes of theft and was told that there was a good chance of recovering a laptop that contacted the Monitoring Center post-theft.

A few weeks later, the LoJack for Laptops software on the stolen laptop silently contacted the Absolute Theft Recovery Team with its location information. The Team logged the details and immediately notified campus police, who were provided with everything he would need to obtain a search warrant, including an IP address that located the stolen laptop in a dorm room – just two floors from where the laptops had been stolen.

Police served a warrant, and the suspect was arrested just one day after the laptop was located by the Recovery Team. The suspect –a fellow student – claimed to have ‘found’ the computer on a floor within the dorm, although admitted he knew it was stolen. He was arrested and the laptop recovered. Various charges were laid.