Why you don't steal from a hacker. • Hacker News Board

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#21

Post by lancefisher » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:53 PM UTC

bonzoesc wrote: post #16

Sargis wrote: post #6

Is this one of those viral marketing campaigns again? Yesterday, there was a popular thread on Reddit about some guy who retrieved his stolen Macbook by using the exact same software that's being mentioned here. And not to mention the several other threads here on HN a few months ago that are suspiciously similar. Or maybe it's just really useful.

It's free and open-source. I doubt they have the budget for a viral marketing campaign.

They might have the budget: http://preyproject.com/plans

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#22

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

Ronkdar wrote: post #10

there wrote: post #2

using a laptop recovery service to do exactly what it was intended to do. sweet hack, bro!

You're missing the point. To paraphrase: "As a hacker, I had the good sense to make sure I had tracking software installed. I take security seriously."

[deleted]

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#23

Post by wheels » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

nikcub wrote: post #4

the word 'hacker' has been diluted to a new low first to 'somebody who can write a web app', to now 'somebody who can install software'

Reading comprehension fail. Just because the title asserts that the poster is a hacker doesn't mean that the post justifies why he is one. If I write something about "Why you don't steal from a Texan" I'm going to talk about you digging lead out of your derriere, not about where I was born.

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#24

Post by breck » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

Quick look at the source code (https://github.com/tomas/prey) seems to show that if you wipe the HD you're SOL. I'm still waiting for Apple to release Find My Mac (similar to Find My IPhone), which will withstand a hard drive reformat.

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#25

Post by EGreg » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:57 PM UTC

Why didn't a real hacker have a keylogger installed on his machine instead of just the webcam thing? You could have gotten the guys' password to his facebook

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#26

Post by blhack » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:58 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #11

>Luckily the thief was a smart little bugger and he was able to bypass the password by using an OSX install CD to create a new admin account. So why did he rely on luck instead of SSHing to the laptop and unlocking the machine? >I cranked up the frequency of reports to one in every five minutes to try to get a screen capture of him using gmail or facebook so I could snag a name or login credentials. Hmm, start a keyl…

>So why did he rely on luck instead of SSHing to the laptop and unlocking the machine?

I don't know of a single person who directly connects their laptop to the internet. This would have been sitting behind a NAT device which, unless port 22 was explicitly forwarded to the IP address that his laptop happened to get via DHCP, would have stopped him from SSHing in :)

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#27

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:58 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #11

>Luckily the thief was a smart little bugger and he was able to bypass the password by using an OSX install CD to create a new admin account. So why did he rely on luck instead of SSHing to the laptop and unlocking the machine? >I cranked up the frequency of reports to one in every five minutes to try to get a screen capture of him using gmail or facebook so I could snag a name or login credentials. Hmm, start a keyl…

[deleted]

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#28

Post by gregcmartin » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 5:58 PM UTC

Sorry I wasn't implying that the software I used made me a hacker, that is simply just my profession... I use the term very widely to be someone who codes, pentests, reverses malware or jailbreaks iphones...

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#29

Post by rograndom » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 6:00 PM UTC

notaddicted wrote: post #14

icebraining wrote: post #11

>Luckily the thief was a smart little bugger and he was able to bypass the password by using an OSX install CD to create a new admin account. So why did he rely on luck instead of SSHing to the laptop and unlocking the machine? >I cranked up the frequency of reports to one in every five minutes to try to get a screen capture of him using gmail or facebook so I could snag a name or login credentials. Hmm, start a keyl…

Consumer routers will typically have port 22 firewalled for incoming trafic.

Run SSH on a non-standard port. Or you can have your laptop set to open a reverse ssh tunnel to another trusted machine on some event, like a file changed on your website, etc.

Re: Why you don't steal from a hacker.

#30

Post by tptacek » Fri, Aug 12, 2011, 6:03 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #22

Ronkdar wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing the point. To paraphrase: "As a hacker, I had the good sense to make sure I had tracking software installed. I take security seriously."

[deleted]

Thank you for pursuing this enlightening thread further.