- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 2,239
- Reaction score
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Prey lets you keep track of your phone or laptop at all times, and will help you find it if it ever gets lost or stolen. It's lightweight, open source software, and free for anyone to use. And it just works.
Open source anti-theft solution for Mac, PCs & Phones – Prey
100% geolocation aware
Prey uses either the device's GPS or the nearest WiFi hotspots to triangulate and grab a fix on its location. It's shockingly accurate.
.
Wifi autoconnect
If enabled, Prey will attempt to hook onto to the nearest open WiFi hotspot when no Internet connection is found.
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Light as a feather
Prey has very few dependencies and doesn't even leave a memory footprint until activated. We care as much as you do.
.
Know your enemy
Take a picture of the thief with your laptop's webcam so you know what he looks like and where he's hiding. Powerful evidence.
.
Watch their movements
Grab a screenshot of the active session -- if you're lucky you may catch the guy logged into his email or Facebook account!
.
Keep your data safe
Hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally remove your stored passwords, so no one will be able to look into your stuff.
.
No unauthorized access
Fully lock down your PC, making it unusable unless a specific password is entered. The guy won't be able to do a thing!
.
Scan your hardware
Get a complete list of your PC's CPU, motherboard, RAM, and BIOS information. Works great when used with Active Mode.
.
Full auto updater
Prey can check its current version and automagically fetch and update itself, so you don't need to manually reinstall each time
How Prey works, and a major weakness
Currently in version 0.3.3, the Prey tracking software runs in the background processes of your notebook. It "wakes" at a specified interval, goes online (if your laptop isn't already connected to the Internet, Prey tries to connect to the nearest open Wi-Fi access point) and checks in with a specified Web address to see what you have ordered it to do. If said address doesn't issue a command to the laptop (such as telling your computer that it is considered stolen), the Prey software returns to sleep and will wake up again at the next time interval.
If your laptop is stolen, you can use another computer to sign in to the Prey Web site, mark the laptop as missing, and follow the whereabouts of your purloined system through a control panel -- assuming the thief takes your notebook online or the software manages to connect to a Wi-Fi access point.
Be aware that the Achilles' heel of Prey -- and many other notebook tracking services, whether free or paid -- is that the tracking program itself can be stopped, removed or deleted if found by a tech-savvy thief. And, of course, the program will be useless if the thief simply reformats your laptop's hard drive.
This can be somewhat thwarted by going into your notebook's BIOS settings and disabling the option for the computer to boot from a USB device or network connection, and locking down access to the BIOS with a password. (I say "somewhat," because the thief could still physically remove the hard drive from your notebook, and access its contents by connecting it to another computer.)
Some of the paid notebook tracking programs are difficult to render inoperable because they are not written to your notebook's hard drive: LoJack for Laptops' software resides in the BIOS of your notebook, for example. Prey doesn't do this.
Review: Track your stolen laptop for free with Prey
Open source anti-theft solution for Mac, PCs & Phones – Prey
100% geolocation aware
Prey uses either the device's GPS or the nearest WiFi hotspots to triangulate and grab a fix on its location. It's shockingly accurate.
.
Wifi autoconnect
If enabled, Prey will attempt to hook onto to the nearest open WiFi hotspot when no Internet connection is found.
.
Light as a feather
Prey has very few dependencies and doesn't even leave a memory footprint until activated. We care as much as you do.
.
Know your enemy
Take a picture of the thief with your laptop's webcam so you know what he looks like and where he's hiding. Powerful evidence.
.
Watch their movements
Grab a screenshot of the active session -- if you're lucky you may catch the guy logged into his email or Facebook account!
.
Keep your data safe
Hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally remove your stored passwords, so no one will be able to look into your stuff.
.
No unauthorized access
Fully lock down your PC, making it unusable unless a specific password is entered. The guy won't be able to do a thing!
.
Scan your hardware
Get a complete list of your PC's CPU, motherboard, RAM, and BIOS information. Works great when used with Active Mode.
.
Full auto updater
Prey can check its current version and automagically fetch and update itself, so you don't need to manually reinstall each time
How Prey works, and a major weakness
Currently in version 0.3.3, the Prey tracking software runs in the background processes of your notebook. It "wakes" at a specified interval, goes online (if your laptop isn't already connected to the Internet, Prey tries to connect to the nearest open Wi-Fi access point) and checks in with a specified Web address to see what you have ordered it to do. If said address doesn't issue a command to the laptop (such as telling your computer that it is considered stolen), the Prey software returns to sleep and will wake up again at the next time interval.
If your laptop is stolen, you can use another computer to sign in to the Prey Web site, mark the laptop as missing, and follow the whereabouts of your purloined system through a control panel -- assuming the thief takes your notebook online or the software manages to connect to a Wi-Fi access point.
Be aware that the Achilles' heel of Prey -- and many other notebook tracking services, whether free or paid -- is that the tracking program itself can be stopped, removed or deleted if found by a tech-savvy thief. And, of course, the program will be useless if the thief simply reformats your laptop's hard drive.
This can be somewhat thwarted by going into your notebook's BIOS settings and disabling the option for the computer to boot from a USB device or network connection, and locking down access to the BIOS with a password. (I say "somewhat," because the thief could still physically remove the hard drive from your notebook, and access its contents by connecting it to another computer.)
Some of the paid notebook tracking programs are difficult to render inoperable because they are not written to your notebook's hard drive: LoJack for Laptops' software resides in the BIOS of your notebook, for example. Prey doesn't do this.
Review: Track your stolen laptop for free with Prey
