"Back To My Mac" Catches a Thief

[felixdzerzhinsky]

Is there a way to do this with Ubuntu?

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/ar.../05/11/0133232

[niteshifter]

Sure - ssh and camgrab come to mind. Now, I'm not saying this episode wasn't pretty cool - it was - but tech alone didn't catch the thieves. From the article:

Had the suspect been a complete stranger, the photographic evidence would have been a “great lead,” but not the decisive clue, Mr. Jackson said. He said that when Ms. Duplaga described the tattooed subject of the picture to one of her roommates, the roommate replied: “Oh, I know exactly who that is — it’s Ian,” referring to Mr. Frias.

Remove this one key fact - the victims knew the thieves - and what do you have? The same result as any of the many computer tracking schemes around, which are of limited utility. Why is this? A laptop is two things:
1) Property
2) A data repository

Of the two, most people will rate #2 over #1. The machine itself can be replaced (insurance). But that data? Better have a backup. Worried about what use that data may be put to? Encrypt it.

What I'm saying is this: Imaging (and audio recording) the thief could be useful as an auxiliary function to system security, but backing it up and locking data down are primary - no "could be" about it.

[hyper_ch]

Better have a backup. Worried about what use that data may be put to? Encrypt it.

Yeah, good to have backups and encrypt the data.

[felixdzerzhinsky]

Thanks for the replies. It is one of those 'justice' stories love. "America's Dumbest Criminals" comes to mind.