A program for tracking stolen laptops. “Prey” upon thieves.


Chilean programmer, Tomás Pollak, developed a very cool little application that allows the owner to track a laptop if it is ever stolen. It is called Prey and best of all, it is totally free.

What is Prey ?

Prey helps you find your stolen laptop by sending timed reports to your email, including information of its whereabouts. Prey reports the general status of the computer, a list of running programs and active connections, fully-detailed network and wifi information, a screenshot of the running desktop and — in case your laptop has an integrated webcam — a picture of the thief. Pretty cool!

You need to have the software installed on your laptop for it to work. With enough luck you may just get your machine back.

The program runs on Mac OS , Linux, and Windows.

I’ll be installing this on my laptop tonight.

prey_laptoptracker_logo

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May 28th, 2009
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Comment Number:
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Written by:
John W.
Posted on:
May 28, 2009 at 3:01 pm

Someone contacted me that this program on OS X (Apple) is only in Spanish. That caught me off guard. Below I have translated the installation questions and provided links and info for using your XMission account info.

Here we go –

OS X Install Text: Translated from Spanish to English.

Paso 1: General Step 1: General

?Donde instalamos?” Where to install

Si no sabes como usar esta campo, dejalo por defecto If you do not know what to use in this field, leave the default

Selecciona Idioma Ingles Select language – English

Correo Electronico Email address

Frecuencia de Ejecucion Minutos How often the program will run Select minutes

URL Chequeo (optional) URL to check

Sin URL, Prey genera un reporte cada vez que se ejecuta. Without URL, Prey it generates a report whenever it is executed.

[Siguiente Paso] Next Step

Paso 2: Correo Step 2: Run

Servidor SMTP (con puerto) SMTP mail server, with port (http://wiki.xmission.com/index.php/General_Email_Settings) (XMission users enter appropriate mail server and SSL SMTP port of 465)

Si usas Gmail o Google Apps dejalo asi. Si no, pregunta a to proveedor de correo que poner.

If you use Gmail or Google Apps use the default setting (already in the box). If you use another email provider, ask them what to enter.

Usuario SMTP Username on the mail server

En Gmail o Google Apps es [usuario@gmail.com] In Gmail or Google Apps it is [username@gmail.com]

Contrasena SMTP password

[Instalar] Install

It will then require that you enter your machine password to complete the installation.