how to trace a stolen computer ?

[Guest]

I had a friend today that had her computer stolen, she was devestated.. the
only thing they took was the box, the rest (monitor, stereo, printer etc)
was smashed to bits..

I had started to think: how could you find that computer through the
internet...


1.) If the girl had a internet account on that computer could you ring the
isp and tell them to monitor who connects to the dailup account ?

2.) If you wrote down the computer name (like the OS computer name) would it
be possible for ISP's to know whether a computer with a specific computer
name joined their network ?


I dont expect the computer would be found in these ways - but does anybody
here have any ideas that one may be able to "find" the computer if its
connected to the net ? Prehaps some kind of way of having the computer send
out a little "beacon" whenever its connected without the robbers knowledge ?

 

[Phrederik]

I had a friend today that had her computer stolen, she was devestated.. the
only thing they took was the box, the rest (monitor, stereo, printer etc)
was smashed to bits..

That sucks... I hope you personally find the idiot who did this and do the
same to their face.

I had started to think: how could you find that computer through the
internet...
1.) If the girl had a internet account on that computer could you ring the
isp and tell them to monitor who connects to the dailup account ?

If it's dialup, I guess they MIGHT be able to trace the call if you had the
police involved and they had some kind of warrant. I doubt they would do it.
The crook would have to know her login and password and actually try and use
it.

2.) If you wrote down the computer name (like the OS computer name) would it
be possible for ISP's to know whether a computer with a specific computer
name joined their network ?

Possible, but not really likely. If she's been applying all the OS updates,
NetBIOS wouldn't be accessible. Even if it was, you'd have to do some pretty
heavy convincing to get the ISP and Police to cooperate.

I dont expect the computer would be found in these ways - but does anybody
here have any ideas that one may be able to "find" the computer if its
connected to the net ? Prehaps some kind of way of having the computer send
out a little "beacon" whenever its connected without the robbers knowledge

?

If it had a network card, and you knew the MAC address, it could be watched
for at broadband ISP's because IPs are usually handed out based on that
address. Still not a very likely scenario.

 

[mcheu]

I had a friend today that had her computer stolen, she was devestated.. the
only thing they took was the box, the rest (monitor, stereo, printer etc)
was smashed to bits..

I had started to think: how could you find that computer through the
internet...


1.) If the girl had a internet account on that computer could you ring the
isp and tell them to monitor who connects to the dailup account ?

The ISP *might* log the incoming phone number. I say might because
some ISPs purposely avoid logging such information to protect client
privacy, and it's possible to block the ID if the originating number
has caller ID blocking enabled. If it's the former, where they don't
log the login information, I guess you could ask them to make an
exception with your login information. Assuming it's possible to
limit it to your login, the privacy issue shouldn't come into play.
In the latter case, where the caller ID is blocked, the ISP won't be
able to do much. Only the phone company would be able to log the
incoming phone numbers. Such a request would have to be done through
the police via a court order, and they won't always be able to do it
retroactively since local calls are not logged unless there's a
special request (It's not like on TV where the police can "grab the
victim's phone records", at least it's not the case in Canada). The
police usually won't bother with a court order for something like
this.

2.) If you wrote down the computer name (like the OS computer name) would it
be possible for ISP's to know whether a computer with a specific computer
name joined their network ?

Nope. This information is not usually transmitted. If you were
really paranoid, you could have installed a personal spyware on your
machine to call home to a particular server on connect with the
internet. Some anti-theft companies do this. Basically an internet
lo-jack. A regular computer with typical software wouldn't know to do
this and most people would probably not use something like this for
privacy reasons. Such software is usually only employed on company
computers (where you might want to monitor employee use and where
computers might get stolen with sensitive information on them).

I dont expect the computer would be found in these ways - but does anybody
here have any ideas that one may be able to "find" the computer if its
connected to the net ? Prehaps some kind of way of having the computer send
out a little "beacon" whenever its connected without the robbers knowledge ?

Not likely, and I've given the reasons above. It's still possible for
the police to

 

[Trent©]

The ISP *might* log the incoming phone number. I say might because
some ISPs purposely avoid logging such information to protect client
privacy, and it's possible to block the ID if the originating number
has caller ID blocking enabled. If it's the former, where they don't
log the login information, I guess you could ask them to make an
exception with your login information. Assuming it's possible to
limit it to your login, the privacy issue shouldn't come into play.
In the latter case, where the caller ID is blocked, the ISP won't be
able to do much. Only the phone company would be able to log the
incoming phone numbers. Such a request would have to be done through
the police via a court order, and they won't always be able to do it
retroactively since local calls are not logged unless there's a
special request (It's not like on TV where the police can "grab the
victim's phone records", at least it's not the case in Canada). The
police usually won't bother with a court order for something like
this.

I'm not sure how its done in Canada...but that's not the way its done
in the U.S. Its not necessary to obtain a court order to unblock
caller ID. Blocking of caller ID is simply a courtesy issue...that is
paid for, of course. But its not as ominous as you suggest.

Many companies have software to defeat this feature...my insurance
company, for one. And I think QVC even has this ability. Of course,
all police departments can read your phone number.

It kinda IS like on TV. lol


Have a nice week...

Trent

Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity!

 

[Guest]

I've just found some software on the internet that has a beacon kinda thing
I speak of... one is called "PC phonehome" but there are numerous others..
looks like this is the solution.. It supposedly even cant be removed by
formatting.