"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."

Imagine

[iminplaya (723125)]

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

Re:Imagine

[niteice (793961)]

Presumably one must use a password.

Re:Imagine

[iminplaya (723125)]

Ah, yes. Very secure [slashdot.org] the Macintosh is.

Re:Imagine

[Culture20 (968837)]

Presumably one must use a password.

You could write a cronjob on the laptop to check an https "website" for a boolean value, and send pictures to the site if the boolean is set to true. Make it look like a weather applet for extra points.

Re:Imagine

[kesuki (321456)]

in this case, the 'victim' had her IM automatically sign in whenever the laptop went online, and she got a call from a good friend, congratulating her on getting her laptop back. But the thing is, the laptop owner was paying '$99 a year' for the 'ability' from any 'mac' to sign in and control the computer from anywhere (including, taking a photo and sending it over IM)

now, you could have a an automatic program to upload to a web server, but in this case, the owner used a subscription service from apple to gain control of the camera remotely, and snap a picture, ironically, the laptop starts a timer , and he tried to raise his hand to obscure the camera, but apparently, the picture is taken too fast for a person to realize what's going on.

just the picture the cops said would have been useful in catching the crook (they would have given copies to the places that fence stolen stuff, and they'd call the cops while 'figuring out the value' of the goods before they knew what was happening... it's a crime to purchase stolen goods after all) but in this case, the person was an acquaintance of their roommate, so they went to the cops to tell then who had the stuff, before they had even fenced the goods.

so apparently, you should fence your stolen laptops without hooking them to the internet. (and with automatic wireless networking and people with open networks, that might be hard in some cities if you even turn it on)

Re:Imagine

[e4g4 (533831)]

Would Apple stand up to the NSA?

Well...this [nsa.gov] guide explains how to harden a Mac OS X system to NSA specs. I would also take issue with your description of Mac OS X as a 'closed source platform' as this [apple.com] link shows that a large chunk of OS X (particularly the lower level elements - yes, the GUI is closed, but things like FileVault are not) is, in fact, open source.

Re:Imagine

[by Anonymous Coward]

How long before the paparazzi start arranging for Macs to be "won" by celebrities or "given" to them as "thanks". For that matter how long before a stalker arranges such a prize/gift?

With this having been posted to Slashdot, Natalie Portman is going to wonder where all those Macs and cases of instant grits came from. ;P

Why do we... wtf is wrong with you?

[OMNIpotusCOM (1230884)]

We care because I have it on good authority that women often use their Macs after having just come out of the shower, a good workout, being smeared in grits, rolling in Jell-O, bathing in whipped cream, and/or while do a self-breast exam. That's why we care!

You act like you haven't had your domain sqatted on by Jenny's Personal Co-Ed Webcam Sexperience after missing a payment that one time that it happened to me.

Re:Imagine

[0100010001010011 (652467)]

You don't *have* to use the .Mac to do this, there are numerous different scripts people have made/thought of using the built in camera.

Taking iSight photos during invalid login attempts [macosxhints.com]
Take photos via cron every 5 minutes [blogspot.com]
Take a photo everytime the lid is opened [deography.com] (Includes all of his pictures.

Re:Imagine

[Niten (201835)]

Like most computers with built-in webcams, the MacBooks feature a prominent green LED that lights up when the camera is in use. This LED cannot be disabled in software. If Apple were actually spying on people with their computers' built-in cameras, someone would have noticed, fast.

Re:Imagine

[0100010001010011 (652467)]

The LED is probably sitting across the power lines to the camera. Camera has power = LED is on. there is no non-physical way to disable it.

Personally, I have Undercover installed on all my and my siblings laptops.

I wish the guy that wrote the command line tool (iSightCapture [macupdate.com]) to take photos would either release the source or make some updates. A video capture CLI tool would be awesome.

I'm thinking of writing my own poor man's Undercover using cron, bash scripts and curl. Attempt to curl a website which I have access to, all the website does is return a 1 or a 0. (Stolen, not stolen). If anything gets taken just update my website and next time my Mac connects to the net, it gets what it needs.

Re:Imagine

[Naturalis Philosopho (1160697)]

And, oddly enough, I have a .25" piece of tape which can defeat any malicious code anybody may have inserted.

Re:Imagine

[by Anonymous Coward]

here's a little poem i wrote entitled
"WHEN I STEAL YOUR LAPTOP"

When i steal your laptop
i'm going to use it offline
so i can harvest your personal info
with a data miner i have on my usb keychain
then i'm going to wipe the os clean
and change the mac address on your network card
and sell the fucker on kijiji
i'll meet you in the arby's parking lot
to sell you back your own machine
that you no longer recognize
because I put hello kitty decals on it.

A viola? Really?

[by Anonymous Coward]

I'm curious to know how would taking a picture of a musical instrument help in this matter...

Re:A viola? Really?

[Concerned Onlooker (473481)]

Because by using this technology violins was avoided.

Re:Rome was burning

[KGIII (973947)]

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?

[KingSkippus (799657)]

No, you misunderstood. They were able to use the software with no strings attached.

Re:A viola? Really?

[by Anonymous Coward]

That's an awful pun. You should be ashamed of yourself, you've really lowered the tone in this thread.

Re:A viola? Really?

[CrazedWalrus (901897)]

Come on. There's always time for a little off-beat humor.

Re:A viola? Really?

[by Anonymous Coward]

I thought it was rather sharp.

Re:A viola? Really?

[Agripa (139780)]

For good measure, just bar the original poster.

Re:A viola? Really?

[somersault (912633)]

Yeah, people really need to learn how to better conduct themselves around here

Re:A viola? Really?

[mattr (78516)]

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.

Re:A viola? Really?

[Gnavpot (708731)]

Yes, but does it run C#?

(I don't know why I bother. Most /.'ers will probably not catch the musical reference anyway.)

Not so useless

[zwc101 (1134715)]

Glad to see all those silly little programs aren't so silly after all.

their real occupation

[by 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 (820058)]

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?

[Dana W (1281070)]

Its part of Photobooth, its to warn you its going to take a "flash" picture for icons or whatever. It flashes by turning the screen brightness up all the way and turning it white for a second. The countdown is an an aid to compose your pictures, I don't think stealth photos is quite what Photobooth is meant for.

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[Concerned Onlooker (473481)]

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?

[HAKdragon (193605)]

You use CMD+SHIFT+3 to take a screen shot on a Mac. Then again, it saves it to a file on the desktop, and not to the clipboard.

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[by Anonymous Coward]

You use CMD+SHIFT+3 to take a screen shot on a Mac.

Macs are so intuitive!

Re:Why take a snapshot?

[Concerned Onlooker (473481)]

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

Privacy concerns

[by Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Privacy concerns

[GeffDE (712146)]

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 [macobserver.com].

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...)

the TFA requires subscription !!!

[kaynaan (1180525)]

would the original poster mind putting up an article that is locked behind registration !

Off topic - example of poor journalism

[Lloyd_Bryant (73136)]

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:Off topic - example of poor journalism

[hyperz69 (1226464)]

His first draft containing her Social, Blood Type, City of Birth, and Mothers Maiden name was lost when his notebook was stolen.

Format C:

[by 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 (911664)]

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?

The Honeynet Project

[sharp-bang (311928)]

did something like this in 2000. See p. 15 of this 3 MB zipped Powerpoint [honeynet.org].

See also P-p-p-Powerbook! [encycloped...matica.com] for a possible laugh.

Poetic Justice

[beadfulthings (975812)]

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.

Mug shots

[xPsi (851544)]

It was nice of those guys to stand in front of her computer and pose for her like they were in mug shots. It's almost like they knew they did something wrong! Oh wait...

Note to self

[wilsoniya (902930)]

Install faraday cage in macbook chop shop.

Alternatively, wear Nixon mask while chopping (I am not a crook!).

Why?

[eguanlao (443632)]

She took a picture of a viola?

So what's the big deal?

[LS (57954)]

This has been done several times before, on Mac and other platforms. Does anyone remember the original backdoor software for windows 10 years ago?

This just looks like a bunch of Apple marketing hype. Nothing new here folks.

Maybe I'm being stupid, but

[davidoff404 (764733)]

the following point comes to mind. The owner of a computer was an employee at an Apple store and, according to the article, therefore knew how to use the "bells and whistles" of the stolen Mac. And yet she was able to take a photo of the guy using the laptop. Now, this suggests to me that she hadn't set a password on the laptop; otherwise how would the thief have been able to log in so that the iSight camera was activated?

It seems to me that the real idiot here was the owner of the laptop.

openvpn = win

[blhack (921171)]

It is for this reason that i have OpenVPN and a running SSH server on my laptop.

And yes, the endpoint is firewalled off...so thieves shall not be sneaking into my network over it.

In the early days of webcams ...

[brunos (629303)]

In the early days of webcams I used to work for this tech company, the bos (a techofile) had just set up a webcam from his computer in the London office to his computer in the New York office. He then flow to New York, a cople of guys and I where working quite late, when I see this other junior guy sat in the boss's chair saying with his legs on the boss's desk imitating the boss's voice "I am the boss and I am gay". When suddenly the computer screen turned on and he saw the boss telling him "YOU ARE FIRED". It was so funny to see this guy's face! (in fairness, the boss was gay ...)

Undercover

[merdaccia (695940)]

Undercover does this sort of thing. It transmits network information, screenshots, and pictures from Macs with iSights. http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/ [orbicule.com]

Phoning home not just for "them."

[mlwmohawk (801821)]

I was thinking about something like this for a while, and this is a practical example, albeit, with different technology.

Did anyone see the movie, with Patrick Stewart, "Safe House?" To make a long story short, he has to enter a password every day to ensure an automated system does not activate. If he ever fails to enter that password, the system assumes he's dead and will let loose damaging blackmail that keeps him alive.

Anyway, a system like that would be very cool for home users. A small "safe house" program that gets run at startup that prompts for a password and gives you a number of tries. If the password is unsuccessful, the camera is activated, and web cam photos are sent to a known server when the network comes up, along with sound as well. Possibly key strokes and new documents web traffic and sites. All this happens quietly, in fact, there is no feedback as to the password being unsuccessful after the second try.

This information, along with the IP address, can be used to identify the thief and recover the property.

Home Version

[DeanFox (729620)]

I run Ubuntu on my home PCs and changed the default login screen to list the users. I created a 'Guest' account and in it's description I put 'Password = 123qwe' (not the real password). The assumption is that a burglar , not knowing much about OS'es, will want to use the PC and will choose the easiest path to gain access. When they turn the PC on the login screen gives them a list of users and an option of choosing "Guest Account with the Password shown. All household users have been told to *never* use this account and why.

This 'Guest' account is CharRooted and has Firefox, IM and other Internet clients all on the desktop but that's about it. Under the hood it opens up SSH, VNC, Terminal Server and every other conceivable way of gaining access. It starts a script that every 30 minutes emails my Gmail account with IP address and connection information. Also, logging on to this account invokes a 'Nuke' scrip that will DBAN type wipe the system if I don't deactivate it within 7 days.

It's not a perfect solution but it has all the capabilities and features of the subscription tracking services that can cost hundreds a year and it's all pretty easy to setup. If any thief steals my PC and uses it to connect to the Internet I will know everything about their connection and have full access to the machine. If it's truly lost and I can't regain control after they login, it self destructs.

Now that I thinks about it, this should be a Ubuntu package or at least a HowTO.

-[d]-

Rule 1

[nurb432 (527695)]

If you steal a computer, unless you are after its data, REFORMAT it first.

even if it doesn't have some sort of tracing, it might have a virus.

built-in technology on the Mac

[nguy (1207026)]

Wow, "built-in technology on the Mac" makes it sound so important. I guess those brilliant inventors at Apple must have labored very hard to copy the idea of building in a camera above a laptop screen from Sony.

SGI did this in mid-90s

[dwater (72834)]

IIRC, SGI did this back in the mid-90s. There had been many repeated computer thefts from the building and surrounding buildings, so they put some motion detection s/w onto an SGI Indy to record anything that moved. All Indy's shipped with a webcam - I think they were one of the first to do so.

Worked like a charm, apparently.

This was at their HQ in Reading, UK. I heard about this second hand, so I don't know the details.

You learn something new every day

[Aphoxema (1088507)]

This experience has taught me to never steal someone's macbook on the rare occasion I don't have electrical tape in my backpack.

No camera. Alternatives?

[An Onerous Coward (222037)]

I've already got my laptop making hourly requests to a non-existent image on a website I control. So if it ever goes walking, I might get an IP address from that. As someone pointed out, I might want to create a guest account, so that the thief would be willing to use the laptop as-is.

But what other sensory information does my laptop have? One thought: Wifi. Even before it connects, it can give you the names of wireless networks nearby. If you could somehow upload that list to a server you control, there is a small chance you might be able to wardrive your way to victory. But command-line wifi utilities seem to be rare. Any ideas?

F@#$%^g Stupid New York Times!

[Tiger4 (840741)]

Congrats to the woman for having the smarts to recover her laptop. Most people would be just lost. Seriously good work.

But the fucking New York Times has screwed her over again. First the article describes what was stolen from her home (thanks for the inventory). Then it describes where she lives, including nearby landmarks! So now anyone else that might wants another crack at her place knows where to find it. Including friends and relatives of the accused!!

Nothing beats being made a victim for having a brain and knowing how to use it! Thanks so much NYT :(

Not sure if this is already posted

[ubrgeek (679399)]

(Too lazy to lower my comment threshold) but if you're interested in setting up Back to My Mac without a .Mac subscription, check our this article [lifehacker.com].

undoing crap moderation n/t

[mmkkbb (816035)]

sorry everybody!

fantastic- Georgia Giatras

[Georgia-Giatras (1287612)]

this reminds me of New Yorkers using cell phone cameras to help prevent rape and other crimes. i hope i never have to do this, but glad to know i can. - Georgia Giatras

Trent Decatur

[Trent-Decatur (1294066)]

good to know, good to know. Trent Decatur

Re:But... its a mac

[nawcom (941663)]

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.

Re:Spelling

[Assoupis (758320)]

Yep ! Viola is french for rape. And voilà is written with an accent.

Re:lol

[by Anonymous Coward]

The white guy got half the punishment of the darker guy.. funny shit

Nah, they just were not as sure it was really him in the photo since all white guys look alike.

Re:That`s weak

[ildon (413912)]

RTFA. It puts a timer on the screen and by the time the thief realized what was going on it was too late for him to cover the lens.

Re:privacy??

[SuperKendall (25149)]

so whats to stop a unruly script kiddie from gaining access to your mac and noting your account info or watching personal activities with your wife/hubby.

The same thing that stops said people from breaking into any VPN. The strength of your password, along with the need to know a valid account.

I also do not leave laptops open and pointing at me during "personal activities". It would take a mighty hacker indeed to break into a sleeping Macbook and raise the lid via remote connection. I guess if you turned on the screen real bright, the force of all the photons emitted might slowly raise the screen.... :-)

Re:"Back to My Mac" ripoff

[ByteGuerrilla (918383)]

It's not Back to My Mac that costs $99 a year, it's .Mac, which contains Back to My Mac.

Re:Behind a router?

[AHuxley (892839)]

Try http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106439 [apple.com]
4500 UDP