User error strikes

[ki4jgt]

I just installed preyproject (protects your computer if it's stolen and tells you where it is by using wifi or Ethernet connections snaps photos of your desktop and webcam and even allows you to chat one on one with the thief) Upon trying to install a gpg key from tor, I hear a siren going off. After a nice little reboot. I log back in and all my personal data is irraticated :-) (I know I didn't spell that right) because I had to choose the delete option in the control panel. AGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!! ](*,)](*,)](*,) Life is grand :-) Now all my Thunderbird accounts, FF and Chrome data is gone. Oh well, better be glad none of my personal files are missing.

***EDIT: I didn't read the fine print. ](*,) so I thought it only erased it when it got stolen. Yeah! apparently, when you tell it to delete something, it does it whether it's stolen or not!! :-) I love this! Although, I don't see the point! Why would I want to delete all my stuff???

[MisterGaribaldi]

Why would I want to delete all my stuff???

Um... because you're a masochist?

The software you're talking about, in principle, sounds nice. However, two things:

1. ALWAYS keep your data backed up (and do so redundantly)
2. There's no such thing as unrecoverable data unless the data was saved encrypted from the very beginning.

Hypothetically speaking, any data I wouldn't want to ever fall into someone else's hands I would store in an encrypted fashion. Take a look at TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/) for those needs.

[ki4jgt]

Um... because you're a masochist?

WOW!! I'm surprised they even have a word for that definition. Technically speaking that is one of the things which are involved, but I'm not going into that here. I've already gotten one infraction for this thread :-)

Umm I just turned off the delete option. I still like the program, I may keep it around for a while. (Now that I know how it works.) Although after the post we just saw on here about the def con guy, it would be kind of dumb to not erase the hard drive of a computer you'd stolen, but for some reason, most people who steal computers don't know how to do that, or that's the way it is where I come from.

[MisterGaribaldi]

Fortunately for the police and most of humanity, criminals in general tend not to be too well educated or savvy. As evidence of this I would point to Jay Leno's "stupid criminals" segments.

[NightwishFan]

Never keep an encrypted backup of your encryption key either. :D

[ki4jgt]

Never keep an encrypted backup of your encryption key either. :D

I've actually done that one, but then I didn't see the point, so I stopped.