Software Security/Tracking Options – Orbicule Undercover, Absolute

In kind of a follow-up to the mention of one million ThinkPads being sold with the biometric/fingerprint-reader hardware security options, there is also software available for those who don’t have that option, that may help you recover a stolen notebook.

Gizmodo mentions a piece of software for tracking stolen Macs (iBook, PowerBook, MacBook), called Orbicule Undercover. In addition to emailing IP information, it sends other information that may help identify the person(s) who stole or received a stolen Apple notebook. Undercover costs $29.99 and the money is refunded if your notebook can’t be tracked down.

Orbicule:

In case of theft, Undercover not only reveals the internet location of your Mac, it also transmits screenshots, enabling you to closely monitor your stolen Mac. In fact, it’s the first theft recovery software on any platform to do this. As these screenshots are sent at regular intervals, they will sooner or later reveal the thief’s identity (e.g. when chatting, reading e-mail,…) making it much easier to work with law enforcement in order to recover your Mac.

In the course of the discussion that followed, a Gizmodo user pointed to a Windows-based piece of software, from Absolute Software, called CompuTraceComplete and CompuTrace LoJack, that has similar goals, and has the added bonus of a “Absolute Recovery Guarantee (PDF)” of up to $1000 dollars if they are unable to help you recover it within 60 days.

Absolute Software:

ComputraceComplete lets you efficiently monitor who is using your computers, what hardware and software changes they make, and where your laptops are.

And if your computer goes missing? We’ll recover it within 60 days or you may receive up to $1,000* per computer.