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| CURRENT SECTION :: TechZone | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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A stolen laptop would have more chance of being reunited with its rightful owner if it was installed with new software that tracks its whereabouts and photographs whoever uses it. Adeona, named after the Roman goddess of safe returns, is a free, open-source tool that regularly reports the laptop’s IP address to a Web vault only accessible to its owner. If on a Mac, it uses the in-built camera to take and send photos of the user, with the IP details, to the portal, where the owner can view the thief and trace their location. Unlike other device-tracking applications, Adeona bypasses the need for a proprietary, central service, meaning users’ IP logs do not risk being scrutinised by a third party. And even if the provided portal was hacked, the data within would remain private as it is coded, and can be deciphered only by the password that the owner used to set up the account. This means that no one besides the owner, or an agent the owner assigns, can use the tool to track the laptop, say its authors, boffins at Washington and California Universities. “We wanted to build a tool that allows you to track the location of your laptop but at the same time doesn't allow someone else to track you,” co-author Tadayoshi Kohno told UW’s Week magazine. “Typically when you create a forensics trail, you leave breadcrumbs that you can see, but so can everyone else. We've created a private forensics trail where only you can see those breadcrumbs.” The researchers said that the data captured - IP address, and if on a Mac a head shot of the crook, could prove “invaluable” to police or security officers pursuing stolen computers. For owners, receipt of the information means it’s time to alert the police. Adeona works with Windows, Macintosh and Linux and since its launch this week, users have said its “privacy-preserving” tracking features should be developed for the iPhone. Positively for techies twiddling thumbs, the researchers seem to have extended this opportunity to external, third party developers, since Adeona’s source code has been published openly. Oct 3, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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