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Geek Avenges Stolen Laptop By Remotely Accessing Thief's Facebook Account (hothardware.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Hot Hardware:
Stu Gale, who just so happens to be a computer security expert, had the misfortune of having his laptop stolen from his car overnight. However, Gale did have remote software installed on the device which allowed him to track whenever it came online. So, he was quite delighted to see that a notification popped up on one of his other machines alerting him that his stolen laptop was active. Gale took the opportunity to remote into the laptop, only to find that the not-too-bright thief was using his laptop to login to her Facebook account.
The thief eventually left her Facebook account open and left the room, after which Gale had the opportunity to snoop through her profile and obtain all of her private information. "I went through and got her phone numbers, friends list and pictures..." Given that Gale was able to see her phone numbers listed on Facebook, he sent text messages to all of those numbers saying that he was going to report her to the police. He also posted her info to a number of Facebook groups, which spooked the thief enough to not only delete her Facebook account, but also her listed phone numbers.
In 2008 Slashdot ran a similar story, where it took several weeks of remote monitoring before a laptop thief revealed his identity. (The victim complained that "It was kind of frustrating because he was mostly using it to watch porn.") But in this case, Gale just remotely left a note on the laptop -- and called one of the thief's friends -- and eventually turned over all the information to the police, who believe an arrest will follow.
Gale seems less confident, and tells one Calgary newspaper "I'm realistic. I'm not going to see that computer again. But at least I got some comic relief."
The thief eventually left her Facebook account open and left the room, after which Gale had the opportunity to snoop through her profile and obtain all of her private information. "I went through and got her phone numbers, friends list and pictures..." Given that Gale was able to see her phone numbers listed on Facebook, he sent text messages to all of those numbers saying that he was going to report her to the police. He also posted her info to a number of Facebook groups, which spooked the thief enough to not only delete her Facebook account, but also her listed phone numbers.
In 2008 Slashdot ran a similar story, where it took several weeks of remote monitoring before a laptop thief revealed his identity. (The victim complained that "It was kind of frustrating because he was mostly using it to watch porn.") But in this case, Gale just remotely left a note on the laptop -- and called one of the thief's friends -- and eventually turned over all the information to the police, who believe an arrest will follow.
Gale seems less confident, and tells one Calgary newspaper "I'm realistic. I'm not going to see that computer again. But at least I got some comic relief."
- Why did this "expert" leave his laptop in his car?
- Why was this "expert"'s laptop not encrypted?
- Why does this "expert" assume the woman in possession of his laptop is the thief... or that she even knows the laptop was stolen?
#DeleteChrome
if the laptop has any information about him or his accounts or logins, then the theft of the laptop could lead to identity theft and fraud. Dude didn't encrypt, so he's not a computer expert, so he's probably employed under false precincts, and should be fired.
it's false PRETENCES not precincts.. ;)
you are here under the false pretence you know what words mean
Regardless, he left it in plain view in his unlocked car.
Even when the laptop is stolen, "hacking" the thiefs facebook account and monitoring the computer usage of other people (without some work contract allowing this) is a crime.
This is a dickish move. What if the thief sold the computer and someone else is new the new owner who actually paid for the computer? Vigilantism is bad.
Someone else is _not_ the new owner. You can't become the owner of a laptop by buying it from a thief. If you knew it was stolen you are a criminal buying stolen goods. If you didn't know you are an idiot who will be parted from his money.
The guy is still the _owner_ of the laptop and can do what he can to recover the stolen laptop from whoever has it now.