Posts Tagged ‘LoJack for Laptops’

Earlier this month, PC World posted a true story about a man who was able to recover his stolen laptops using a free remote-access service, LogMeIn.

The story was this: David Krop left 2 laptops in his SUV in a parking garage while he attended a meeting. The computers were stolen and they weren’t even password protected. However, David had a trial access of LogMeIn installed, which allowed him to remotely access his laptop. He was able to use this service to see that his stolen laptop was being used by its alleged thief. By spying on this person, and collecting all his personal information as he browsed the internet (including his face via a video chat), Krop was able to supply information to the police. The police were then able to recover the laptop.

Now, this sounds like a good deal, right? However, it’s a pretty a-typical situation to be in, and does not guarantee laptop recovery. The scenario depended on many factors, including:

• That the unauthorized user did not dismiss the tracking icon that appeared when his laptop activity was being watched
• That the unauthorized user would reveal a wide variety of detailed personal information while using the laptop (phone number, email address, face)
• That the unauthorized user wouldn’t wipe all the existing software off the computer

As you can see, using LogMeIn or other free laptop tracking or remote access services is not the same thing as using a dedicated laptop tracking & recovery program and service such as Computrace or LoJack for Laptops from Absolute Software. Only Absolute has a dedicated Theft Recovery Team to work with police to recover your computer. Our software does not require your to sit around waiting for the alleged thief to supply detailed information about him/herself – all investigations and tracking are done on your behalf.  And you don’t have to hope to talk a police officer into taking on your case – we have existing relationships with local police around the world. Also, most PCs also now have our software at the BIOS level, protecting it from being wiped if software is deleted. So even if a crafty thief that tries to remove the software, the BIOS firmware will make sure its installed.

David Krop has learned his lesson about leaving his laptop in his car. And he now uses remote tracking software. If you aren’t yet set up to track your laptop, check out our theft recovery products here.

The NY Times had put a great article this week entitled "On the Trail of the Missing Gadget." Of course, Absolute Software’s Computrace / LoJack products fall into this category of "missing gadgetry retrieval", so to speak. The article does a great job of generalizing how these technologies and services work, and how absolutely easy it is for the end user. The software just sits there until you need it – then we do all the work to help retrieve your missing gadget if it does go missing! Simple!

With the case of more advanced technology, like we employ at Absolute, the recovery is aided by services such as GPS, keystroke captures, or by internet connections to gather evidence and help determine where the lost device is being used. At Absolute, our recovery team also continues the process until the point when the device is recovered. This is by far the safest route, as you, the customer, never come in contact with the criminals. This also enables law enforcement agencies to prosecute those responsible for thefts.

John Livingston, CEO of Absolute, explains why:

"We will purposefully never reveal a location to a consumer customer. We won’t do it. Once you declare that it’s lost or stolen, we take control over the location at that point. We purposely keep some safe distance between the end user and the thief."

Absolute employs a team of 40 investigators with experience in law enforcement. This team then works closely with local law enforcement agencies to recover stolen devices. If you have sensitive data on your device, you have the option to trigger a remote delete of that data. We’re also working on a way to permanently disable the computers, which will hopefully be another deterrent to theft.

You can learn more about the Absolute recovery process here.

Get ready for Fall with Absolute Software’s Back-to-School special on LoJack for Laptops! Save 20% on LoJack for Laptops Standard and Premium, for Mac or PC, until September 30th!

LoJack for Laptops provides our award-winning theft recovery services. It tracks, locates, and recovers stolen computers while providing you with the ability to protect your personal information from identity theft. Learn more here!

A home burglary left a Computrace LoJack for Laptops customer without her laptop. Less than one week later, the stolen laptop connected to the internet, allowing the Absolute Theft Recovery Team to begin work on recovery.

Absolute Recovery Officers were able to glean a recurrent username from the machine, and traced the laptop’s location to a nearby suburb. This information was passed on to police, who used it to obtain a search warrant for the identified residence.

In a fruitful search, police recovered more than just the stolen computer – over $2,000 in narcotics, $5,000 in firearms, and $3,000 in criminal proceeds were also seized. And if over $10,000 in recovered collateral was not enough, an established cock fighting game operation was uncovered in the home’s basement. Further investigation revealed that the suspect had a history of charges relating to underground game fights. 

The officer was happy to add to this criminal record; the suspect now faces charges of Receiving Stolen Property and Possession of Narcotics. Further charges in relation to the other findings are pending.

This is the second Computrace-equipped laptop that the involved officer has recovered (although notably, his first recovery was less exciting!). He remarked to an Absolute Recovery Officer that Computrace LoJack for Laptops is “a very handy piece of equipment”.

Learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery process

Please note that indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Absolute Software announces today that it’s consumer product, LoJack for Laptops, will now be available for purchase at the McAfee online store for US customers.

The addition of LoJack for Laptops to the store offers McAfee customers a more comprehensive computer security package, all purchased at once. LoJack for Laptops tracks and recovers stolen computers. If your computer goes missing, the Absolute Theft Recovery Team will work with law enforcement to get it back.

“When consumers purchase McAfee security suites as well as Absolute’s LoJack for Laptops it gives them the protection from two common headaches that computer owners face: rampant computer and Internet threats and computer thieves,” – Todd Gebhart, executive vice president and general manager of McAfee Consumer, Mobile and Small Business

You can buy Computrace LoJack for Laptops from McAfee for $39.99 (Standard) or $59.99 (Premium). The premium version includes our service guarantee and the data delete functionality.

Absolute Software’s Computrace LoJack for Laptops is meant for home and home office computer users. You can learn more about it here, or learn more about our corporate solutions here. Mac users, don’t forget that both LoJack for Laptops and Computrace are also available for you!

A LoJack for Laptops customer recently had his beloved laptop stolen after a vehicle break-in. He has shared his recovery story below:

On March 13th, I was on my way to work and found the back window of my Silverado broken and my LoJack for Laptops equipped Dell – along with my camera and iPod – missing. I immediately called the police and then Absolute Software to report the theft.

On March 25th, I got call informing me that Absolute had successfully led police to my laptop, and that it had been recovered from the suspect identified by the Absolute Theft Recovery Team. Police said that the suspect claimed to have purchased the laptop “on the open market”, and no charges were being filed until further investigation.

Upon receiving my laptop back, I was searching my browsing history and found that a past user had gone onto a manufacturer’s website for camera accessories – accessories for the very brand of camera that had been stolen from my truck. It just so happens that very few cameras of that make and model were sold in our area. I called the detective in charge of the case and informed him of this. He called the suspect and was given a line about checking out camera accessories for his sister. This afternoon, he called to inform me that he had recovered my camera along with many other stolen items, and that the suspect was in custody.

This would have never been possible without LoJack for Laptops protection. My first laptop was stolen and never recovered – it did not have LoJack for Laptops installed. Now I have my stolen laptop back and will never own another laptop without LoJack for Laptops.

Joe Stewart
Austin, Tx

Absolute recently recovered a laptop for a Surrey, BC customer. Upon hearing of the successful recovery of his computer, the customer sent us the following recount:

If you use a laptop computer at work or at home, then I’d advise you to read the following story.

In July 2006, my associate and I suffered a break-in at our office. We lost numerous monitors, gadgets, and other stuff – including my new laptop. The police had no workable evidence, leads, or suspects, and so considered our stuff to be long gone.

Luckily, when I bought my laptop, the salesman had suggested I also buy a nifty little product called LoJack for Laptops. Basically, it hides in the laptop’s firmware and pings the Absolute Monitoring Center with its whereabouts whenever the laptop logs onto the Internet. This allows Absolute to track down the laptop’s location – and was a smart purchase, as I later discovered. 

In the months that followed the theft, I gradually became resigned to the loss of the laptop, and more painfully so, the years of family history research it contained. The backup disk was also in the laptop case at the time of theft, so I was more or less pooched. Big time. It was very discouraging.

Then, on February 16, 2009, the Absolute Monitoring Center heard a lonely little ping from the Internet. The Absolute Recovery Team was able to use this to determine the laptop’s location, which they passed on to the RCMP. Yesterday, RCMP visited the identified address, knocked on the door, and got the computer back. 

The machine was recovered, and all of my family data remains intact.

If you get the idea that I am promoting this product, you would be right. If you value your laptop, I would whole-heartedly suggest that you visit the LoJack for Laptops website and grab a copy.

                                                                                                                       Ian Wraight, B.Sc, C.G.A

                                                                                                                       Nutri-Lawn South; Surrey, BC

An Albuquerque news station recently reported on a LoJack for Laptops success story, after the laptop security solution led police to the three suspects who had allegedly stolen over $40,000 worth of items in a home burglary. Click here to view the complete newscast.

Learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery Process.

Please note that indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused, in all cases, are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

SBTV recently aired a segment about Absolute Software’s consumer laptop security suite, LoJack for Laptops. The video was made at CES 2009. The host, Mario Armstrong, describes how LoJack works and how important it is to think about protecting your technology devices.

Armstrong also points his viewers to Absolute’s Computrace product for corporate customers looking for even more laptop security solutions.

A LoJack for Laptops equipped laptop began to call in to the Absolute Monitoring Center just days after its owner reported that it had been stolen in a home burglary. The Absolute Recovery Team deployed a series of forensic tools to mine information on the laptop’s unauthorized user and whereabouts, and uncovered several pieces of evidence that indicated the laptop was being used to perpetrate credit card fraud. Absolute passed these details over to the County Sheriff’s Forgery and Fraud Unit for further investigation.

The County Sheriff’s office was quick to act on the information that Absolute provided, and within a week, was able to obtain a search warrant for the identified user’s address. The warrant was served, and after detaining the location’s occupants, a thorough search was conducted.

Police recovered the stolen laptop from the scene, along with narcotics, stolen auto parts, handguns, a special machine that reads and re-encodes credit cards’ magnetic strips, and hundreds of documents which contained names, addresses, and social security and credit card numbers. The user was arrested and charged on several counts of Credit Card Fraud, ID Take-Over, Receiving Stolen Property and Narcotics Possession. Detectives estimate the amount of known fraud on the compromised credit cards to be in excess of $100,000.

The laptop has been returned to a happy LoJack for Laptops customer.

Learn more about the Absolute Theft Recovery process.

Please note that indictments and criminal complaints are merely unproven accusations and the accused, in all cases, are presumed innocent until proven guilty.