Update…
I HAVE MY LAPTOP BACK!!!
Both guys were arrested and the laptop was found in one of their flats. Both guys claimed to have bought it from ‘a guy in the street’ and the investigation is ‘ongoing’…
Whatever the truth is, in the grander scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.
As for me, I have my laptop back and my work data, I’m a happy brogrammer. The Police came through in the end and were really supportive but it’s all down to that $15 app that stopped me losing a £1400 machine and many sleepless nights.
Protect your equipment and back up your work people!!!
Oh and also maybe lay off the Tequila…
MyStolenMac
The situation so far…
On Friday 5th August 2011 I had my Apple MacBook Air stolen from me whilst in a bar in Soho, London. I work as a contract web developer so leaving the laptop at the communal office wasn’t an option so along it came with me for a few drinks to wind down a busy week with some friends.
A couple of months earlier, after reading this guys blog, I went ahead and installed the Hidden App on my MacBook Air. It’s tracking software than can locate your computer if stolen, take pictures of the thief using the laptops camera and capture data about what they get up to on your laptop (think Facebook, Online Banking, Email etc). $15 a year seemed a small price to pay for a £1400 laptop and priceless work data. I tested it once to see that it recorded my correct geographic location and then promptly forgot all about it and got on with my life.
After my laptop was stolen I reported it to the Metropolitan Police Station on Saville Row, Mayfair and although I was met with a very pleasant Police officer, I left feeling slightly dejected, convinced that my case had just been thrown into the black hole of lost phones, stolen cameras and dropped wallets that must occur in London everyday.
I woke up the next day with a hangover and massive bouts of self-pity interrupted only with feelings of trepidation over whether my insurance would cover it, what was I going to use on Monday for work and why the fuck didn’t I back up Fridays work to Dropbox just before I left the office. While I was wading around in the deepest, darkest dispair I suddenly remembered that I had installed Hidden App a few months previously. I rushed over to my iMac and logged into their website half presuming it wouldn’t work but to my amazement it had started logging data already.
MY LAPTOP WAS ALIVE!!!
I’ve handed over all data, names, IP address, residential addresses, images and screenshots to the Police department that is dealing with my case. There is now an arrest warrant out for both men.
The police have been painfully slow in dealing with my case especially considering that I did 90% of their work for them. I gave them names, addresses and photos of the suspects and photographic evidence of the suspects handling stolen property. I can’t understand why they didn’t move instantly as it was technically still a ‘crime in progress’. If it was a stolen car they would chase it. I was told that it was because the Police force was overstretched due to the riots in London over the weekend. My laptop obviously pales in comparison to these events but I can’t help but feel dubios as to this reasoning. I feel I would have had a better result if I had just stood outside his house and dialed 999…
I am patiently waiting for an update…
What follows is the data and images that were recorded on my MacBook Air…
The first photo. An IP address is logged, but only to a public WiFi spot. Who are you and what are you doing with my laptop?
That’s a better photo of you, but seriously, what are you doing with my laptop?
Ah, looking at holiday rentals in France, of course! Obviously this is the first thing you do with a stolen laptop.
The first IP address logged to a residential address. GOTCHA!!! It’s an address registered in Sutton, a miserable town located just South of London. Where has the guy gone though?
Hello! Actually, hold on, that’s a different guy! Great picture though and nice to see your girlfriend make an appearance as well.
A different IP address has now been logged to a residential property in Croydon. An even bigger shit hole further South of London. But thanks for connecting to your other iMac, I now have your name!
Back at the Sutton IP address now. Very kind of you to login into your Facebook account as well. So now I have your name and IP address and your friends name and IP address.
Hey, you’re back again, nice curtains. What could you possibly be looking at now though?
Ah, looking at girls on Facebook…classic. I’m guessing your girlfriend has gone out. Oh and thanks for re-arranging my dock, nice to see you kept Photoshop though, always handy.
New activity! Nothing had been logged for over a day and I was worried he had sold my laptop but this lovely shot of him chilling in his bed put my mind at rest. Same IP address as before.
New IP address! This time in Mitcham, again another shit hole South of London. Looks like he is in a car, maybe he’s just gone out to get some popcorn.
You’re back again! But this time naked…nice. What are you looking at now?
Ah…working out how to jail break your iPhone. Why doesn’t that surprise me.
