Over years I had been a victim of theft, and on some occasions, I had been quite careless with my gadgets. I once lost a mobile phone on the office of my previous job, which I left on a charger on someone’s desk. I have left a scientific calculator and probably two or three mobile phones in taxis. I had been held up by a robber in a street whom I decided to turn in my mobile phone instead of risking my life. Oh, and money, sure, I had lost thousands of pesos from pickpockets on several occasions.
Either I had been so careless, or I have been unlucky. Or even both! Maybe I should start seriously considering good old services of a fortune teller for lost things!
Just days ago, I came across this open source software called Project Prey which runs discreetly at the background of my laptop. This software is used to keep track of devices: laptops, desktop and tablets that run on several operating systems – Windows, Mac, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse and Arch. Pretty useful for someone like me who keeps on losing gadgets – either by force of by carelessness. But I think this could also be of use for those who are careful with gadgets as well.
At least I have a way back to get these devices back; but that is, if the end user doesn’t know about that Project Prey. At least there is still that chance that the laptop could be returned.
Signing up with Project Prey is straightforward. You can either download the software first or just sign-up at the website. Either way you need an account with them and have a software installed in your device.
Once you have completed the signup, you will need to add devices onto the control panel. The image below shows how it looks like. The first button can be toggled to mark the device as missing. It’s is interesting to see that you can get screenshots, webcam shots and location of the missing device as well.
Probably the only time when this software will fail is, if the thief had erased everything on the hard disk or found out a way to disable this program. Project Prey is much of a software and not a firmware that runs when computer starts.
Project Prey comes free with limited features, which includes lockdown and alarm trigger, and could wipe passwords and emails, or you can upgrade to a Project Prey Pro account for $5 per month which is actually practical to do if you want a stolen or missing device back, or just want to have additional features that free account is lacking. I am using a free account for now, as I think this suffice since my laptop isn’t lost.
I highly recommend this free software. However, I can’t use Project Prey to track my lost cash.
those thief will sell your gadget right away on ebay.. they’re good too
April 18, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Yes, but only if the thief is knowledgeable enough to disable the software.
Apparently you can see several success stories around the web about getting their stolen laptop back.
April 18, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Does Project Prey work worldwide? I mean, can it really track the device wherever it maybe? If so, then this is surely a good investment.
April 23, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Yes, it can track the location of the device in wherever country the device ends up. The location of the device is estimated using addresses of the nearest Wifi hotspots.
April 23, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Thanks for this information. Will read up more about this interesting and useful software. But of course, actually getting it back from the thief is another matter…yikes!
April 23, 2012 at 9:22 pm
Yes, it’ll be another matter. At least you still have better chance of getting it back.
April 23, 2012 at 10:04 pm
wow!! thanks for sharing this!!
$5/mo is not much for a software like this!
April 24, 2012 at 12:08 am
Glad you find it helpful. Cheers!
April 24, 2012 at 7:20 am