"Back To My Mac" Catches a Thief

robipilot writes "Mac stolen, Mac comes online, owner connects using 'Back to My Mac,' owner takes picture of culprit, and voila, criminal caught. OK, it wasn't quite that simple, but here's an interesting story of using some built-in technology on the Mac to recover a stolen laptop."

Comments

Imagine

[iminplaya]

Thousands of peepholes for the guys in Cupertino to look through...

Re:Imagine

[niteice]

Presumably one must use a password.

Re:Imagine

[cheater512]

Why do we care?

Re:Imagine

[0100010001010011]

You are correct. How does this fit into the paranoid posts where people think that Apple or the Government has a back door into every Mac and are spying on the populus?

So someone would have to break into my house. Take apart my laptop, solder some bits on, re assemble it so they could spy on me.

their real occupation

[Anonymous Coward]

Mr. Jackson said that Mr. Frias and Mr. Shahikian were arrested last year on a felony marijuana possession charge, but are not career criminals. No, just career idiots.

Why take a snapshot?

[LoverOfJoy]

At first, the photo application revealed only a smoky room and an empty chair, Mr. Jackson said, but then a man sat down. Ms. Duplaga, again using remote technology, typed in the command to snap a photo. When you take a picture with that computer, it shows a countdown, and when it does, this guy figures out whats going on, Mr. Jackson said. It all clicks for him, and he puts his hand up to cover the lens, but it was too late. She had already taken the picture.

If she could see him, why would she need to use the software to take a snapshot? Don't apple computers have Prnt Scrn or an equivalent button?

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[Concerned Onlooker]

I didn't realize that png format was considered "awkward." :-)

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[Concerned Onlooker]

Actually, no. I did a little reading on Back To My Mac and it has nothing to do with the OS. It's an application that works through .Mac and uses IPv6, UPnP and one or two other technologies. It allows you to connect to your Mac no matter where it is located, but from the sound of it it is a finicky application. It only worked because the thieves had left the computer signed in to its .Mac account and had UPnP on their local router. It also means she either hadn't logged out or the computer was set to automatically log in, something that generally seems like a bad idea but in this case worked to her advantage.

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[ChameleonDave]

Not having read the article, but inferring from ... And, surprise-surprise, you are completely fucking wrong.

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[Free the Cowards]

If you want intuitive, use the Grab application. Keyboard shortcuts are for power users, and are not meant to be intuitive.

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[GregNorc]

If I wanted to make my fingers cry out in pain, I'd use eMacs.

I use the screencapture command in terminal to take screenshots.

Re:But... its a mac

[nawcom]

So when he got it back.. Did he check his e-mail, browse slashdot, then realize there is nothing else to do? I feel bad for the thief who was dumb enough to steal one, let alone the victim who was dumb enough to buy one (victim of apple, not thief). heh and buying a laptop that is "vista capable" would be better? I guess that makes Apple users "dumb" and Microsoft users "retarded".

Please explain what the features built into Windows are that would provide such advantage.

Yeah. I thought so. I am not saying Mac OS X is better, I am simply stating that your post is ignorant, stupid, and lacks a decent point.

Privacy concerns

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone else a little concerned that this could be used to spy on you if it becomes compromised?

Re:Privacy concerns

[GeffDE]

This is no different than any webcam. The fact that it is built-in and constantly connected physically is a problem, but it can easily be disabled.

A short applescript could be make that would enable/disable the iSight with the click of a button. Hella easier than having to unplug a USB cable...less wasted motion and lord knows I hate having to do anything physical because I post on slashdot.

Step away from the tinfoil, man. Are you a little concerned that people can study your online habits because you broadcast that information over the World Wide Web? A webcam is a useful thing, and all useful things can be used or abused; that's a fact of life and there's no getting around it. So either put up with some security concerns or live your life in a padded room (though, admittedly, this will only mitigate security risks, not eliminate them...)

Format C:

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't the first thing you'd want to do is format the machine? I highly doubt this laptop would have been returned if some basic ... maintenance... had been preformed. And for the extra paranoid... purchase a new system board would all but guarantee the thing would never come back.

Here's an idea

[blackfrancis75]

This makes me think a good idea would be to have some software running on my laptop that invisibly records it's IP address to a log file on an external server. This should be enough in most cases to get a pretty good idea of the location of the laptop when the thief boots it. Might even lead to an exact location if the ISP was forthcoming. Has this idea been thought of? Is it in use? Obvious problems with the idea?

Poetic Justice

[beadfulthings]

I know, this being Slashdot we have to worry about the privacy issues, compare the Mac to somebody's Vista laptop, disparage the cops, fret about security in general, and not fail to point out that a viola is indeed a stringed instrument.

But there's just something so damned satisfying about imagining these two thugs being caught red-handed with the loot. There's the impression of the victim realizing that she may be onto something. Her "Now I've got you, you son of a bitch!" as the fatal snap takes place. The "Oh, shit" realization of the thief, probably followed by frantic thoughts of how he might go about flushing two widescreen TV's and assorted recreational electronics. The genuine gratification of being able to walk into the police station and say, "Here are photographs of the guys who ripped off our stuff, actually using some of our stuff, and we know who they are..." Perhaps then the THUD THUD THUD at the malefactors' door.

It's got all the elements of the classic cautionary tale, and just reading it should bring at least a brief and sarcastic smile to the face of anybody who's ever been robbed.

Off topic - example of poor journalism

[Lloyd_Bryant]

Mr. Jackson said that Ms. Duplaga did not wish to be interviewed. On Friday, no one answered the door at the beige colonial-style house on Ridgeview Avenue where she rents an apartment diagonally opposite a church. The neighborhood is on the edge of the city's downtown; in recent years, many of the prewar homes have been renovated. Gee, anybody in White Plains want to have a go at tracking her down? Thanks to this superfluous info, you now know:

a) She lives on Ridgeview Avenue.
b) She's at the edge of the city's downtown.
c) Many of the homes in the area have been renovated recently.
d) She lives in a colonial-style house.
e) The house is diagonally opposite a church.

If that's not enough info:

One of the laptops was a Macintosh belonging to Kait Duplaga, who works at the Apple store in the Westchester mall and thus knows how to use all its bells and whistles. Just tail her from where she works.

The only info in this that's actually relevant is the fact that she works at an Apple store, and that's she did not wish to be interviewed. The rest is either a reporter padding an article with irrelevant information, or attempting to indirectly violate her right to privacy.

Either way, very poor journalism.

Re:Rome was burning

[KGIII]

I probably shouldn't...

The violin wasn't invented until many centuries after the burning of Rome. Nero did play an instrument, a cithra I believe it is called, and did consider himself to be quite a musician. (Oddly I don't recall any mention of his skill level in my studies, just that he was passionate and competed and organized competitions.)

Titicus (spelling?), the historian, was pretty clear in what Nero really did during the burning of Rome. He was much more effective than, say, FEMA. He rushed down, helped to fight the fires, gave shelter, and provided food at either a discounted or free rate. I'm not entirely sure if it was free or discounted and I lack the initiative to look this stuff up.

So, while the idea of a tyrant (which Nero certainly was) ignoring the plights of the people makes for great copy it just didn't happen that way. What did happen is that Nero used this fire to persecute the Christians but that was after the fire when the people were looking for someone to blame.

Anyhow... To the point... Err... Wait, no... I didn't have a point.

Re:A viola? Really?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

You should take a bow. That strikes a chord with me, no bars to use. No rest for the evil. And the finale! Sounds like the whole progression ended on a good note. And watch out for flying chairs from Washington because Steve Ballmer likes to throw chairs and he lives in Washington and he did that once a long time ago and... uh.. oh man. Why is that joke funny 300 times but no 301?