How do I use Prey to help recover a stolen laptop?

Laptops are stolen all of the time. And recovering a stolen laptop is made very difficult when steps have not been taken to help this task get accomplished. Prey is an open source application, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, that can help you out when your laptop is stolen. Prey takes an ingenious approach to laptop recovery; because once it is installed, it will send timed reports to a configured email address containing information describing its whereabouts.

The information collected includes:

> Status of the computer
> List of running programs and active connections
> Detailed network and WI-FI report
> Screenshot of running desktop
> A picture of the thief (if the stolen laptop is equipped with a Webcam)

Of course you are probably thinking this is a lot of information to be sending out, especially since, with this setup, your laptop will be sending out this information even when the laptop isn’t stolen. Ah, but the creators have thought of that as well.

You can configure Prey to only send out the information if it finds a certain Web URL that you created in the event of the laptop being stolen. We’ll address that in a bit. First, let’s look at how to get the program and install it.

Read more about Prey at: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=1543&tag=nl.e064

Converting CU Suggests Member Data Was Stolen

The credit union that most recently suspended its attempt to become a mutual bank worries that someone might have compromised its security and stolen member data in order to call members to get them to oppose the conversion attempt.

Officials with the $114 million First Basin Credit Union have not yet commented on the conversion suspension to the trade press, but CEO Shem Culpepper told local media outlets on Friday that the CU was investigating whether member data may have been stolen and who, the credit union alleged, might have been calling members to tell them they would lose their funds on deposit if the conversion went through.

Leaders of Save First Basin, the member group opposed to the conversion, denied their group had made any calls and some members opposed to the conversion scoffed at the CU’s allegation, suggesting that it was merely a way for the credit union to save face after, the members suggested, balloting on the measure ran so heavily against it.