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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."
If he is such a "computer security expert", why did he not have his laptop fully encrypted as well as (naturally) an OS login password? Seems to me that he was either actively trying to bait somebody like this, or he's a complete moron.
In general, the various 'identity theft' type laws which make it illegal to access others accounts don't have exceptions because it's a stolen computer.
A "computer security expert" would not leave their laptop in their car overnight.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
More likely is that the laptop got converted for cash at a pawn shop and later bought in good faith, which means he's humiliated a poor girl who had nothing to do with the theft.
> 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.")
I like thought of a dude watching another dude endlessly watch porn, and being like, why can't you say your name!!!
What happened in a similar case in my country - the thief successfully sued the geek for damage to his reputation, and was awarded a compensation an order of magnitude higher than what was the value of the laptop.
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.
If you go a bit beyond the corporate-mandated annual security training, most information security curriculum says that step one is identifying the assets at risk and their value. It would be silly to spend $50,000 turning your garage into a vault to protect a $15,000 car, and similarly for information security the value of the asset determines the maximum effort you should put into protecting it. This not only avoids wasting more time/money/hassle than the asset is worth, but it allows you to spend your efforts on the most valuable assets. Any time/money spent on a low-value asset is time NOT spent protecting a higher-value asset.
The identity of your favorite gaming site is worth about 5 cents US, so it is error to spend more than 5 cents worth of time trying to protect that information.
Additionally, in most cases it is better to protect and encrypt data on a per-account basis, for both technical and practical reasons. On a laptop, that means you encrypt the home directory, not the system. Multiple user logins have separate encryption, and one account can't access the encrypted files of another account. If you want to take it a step further, you can have a work account on the machine and a separate account for checking personal email, etc. Along with the obvious security benefits, that avoids having the browser or search engine auto-complete a URL based on *personal* browsing history in the middle of a presentation.
Given per-account security, a guest account with restrictions on it is quite feasible, and a theif would likely click the guest account.
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.
Entrapment only applies to law enforcement. You're free to "entrap" anyone you wish if you're not a cop.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
unauthorized access to a computer system
It's his computer. I don't see how the access can be unauthorized.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
"I'm realistic. I'm not going to see that computer again..."
The victim stated he went through her Facebook profile when she "left the room", implying he might have also had remote control of the camera. Is a picture of her face along with an entire Facebook profile and IP address somehow not enough gift-wrapped evidence to provide to the authorities for them to execute a simple knock on a fucking door to recover stolen property? What the hell...
The owner of the laptop missed his opportunity to recover his property by trying to publicly shame the woman into returning it. That was a counterproductive waste of time. She could just claim she bought it from someone, and how could he, or the police, prove otherwise?
Anti-theft software should be designed to allow the thief to use the laptop on a guest account, while password protecting your personal account. You want the thief to use the laptop. Locking it remotely will only ensure that it is immediately disposed of, or sold for parts.
So, assume your laptop is stolen and you've activated the remote tracking software: immediately call the police and file a report. The police won't do a thing unless you take that first step. Next, start collecting data on the thief: home address, work/school address, phone numbers, images of the thief using it, etc. Organize all of that data into a folder and take it, along with a copy of your police report, to the local police station. Show them that you know exactly who has the laptop, that person's address, the location of the laptop, etc. Also point out that if this person was the thief, there is an excellent chance that additional stolen property will be found at their residence.
The police now have the justification they need to go knock on that person's door, or possibly get a search warrant. Granted, the person who has it may still claim it was purchased from some third party, but when police are standing in someone's home, showing them pictures of their own faces taken through the laptop camera, and saying, "Give us the laptop now, or we'll come back with a search warrant", the chances are excellent that it will be handed over.
No one may be prosecuted, but you'll at least have your property back. Of course, this scenario presumes that the police care enough to follow through with the information you provide. In larger cities, they may not bother, but in smaller towns and rural areas, they may be very happy to assist when you present all the evidence they need on a silver platter.
Virtually every top comment is a victim-blaming shitfest.
"Ooooh CRIME he's a hacker! Arrest the victim!"
"Every security expert encrypts every piece of technology they own regardless of circumstances! It's his own fault!"
".. and they ALWAYS take every possession with them everywhere they go, and never lock anything in their vehicle, because they're infallible! Clearly he's not an expert!"
"That poor thief. ;("
Ugh.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC