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If your laptop gets stolen...


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#1 q335r52

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Posted 28 September 2009 - 08:58 PM

You can put:

MsgBox, To Whoever Finds this Laptop: `n`n I will pay good $$ for the return of this laptop, or, if you are a thief and want to keep this computer, for the return of certain files on the laptop.  Please email me at XXXXXX.

in your startup (Start menu/startup) folder :)

#2 Tuncay n-l-i mobile

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 02:53 AM

Are you serious? If it gets stolen, I can not put this into startup folder, because I dont have physical accsess to the computer.
And i do not want read this every time i start my laptop.

Put a link with name "PASSWORDS" on your desktop to a script, with some fake passwords showing. It could do some things the user not see like sending email with information about the network etc.

#3 MasterFocus

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 03:31 AM

Are you serious?

I hope not.

#4 gwarble

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 07:04 AM

this sparks an idea for a potentially useful spinoff though... kind of like a message a bank theif may send every hour to tell your cohorts that you haven't been 'made'...

you could make a script, hidden from view of course, that sends an email out every hour with as much information as you can grab (ip for location/finding, keyslogged?, webcam snapshot??, etc)...

you could in practice, of course, make this app fire once a day (but maybe gather data throughout the day)... or better yet, have a secret hotkey that says "hey script, its me, the owner, i'm still in possession of you, you can relax" to save on resources and/or email space... which you have to hit every so often... you could set up a dummy gmail account to receive these, and only check it when you've been thieved!

an idea possibly worth pursuing...

- gwarble

#5 BoBo³

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 09:56 AM

FYI. To identify that 'cell' from within a thief uses your stolen cell-phone (to get his current position) is a breach of his/her individual rights. Same with taking a snapshot of someone without his/her permission.

I heard that someone (btw, a thief) in the US has brought the owner of a house (who was on vacation) to court to get a compensation for the reason that he got trapped in the cellar and had to eat cat-food so he won't die of starvation. In causa: Inhumanity :shock:

#6 Guests

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 08:17 PM

Well, I try to post food for thought scripts. I want to make a series like, "autohotkey scripts with interesting functions".

I have about a $300 netbook, so a new laptop is probably no big deal to me. I also don't work for the CIA, so I have no real secret files. The only thing that's valuable to me is probably my work or my photos. The idea is not to track down the person, but rather to negotiate with them.

A real laptop theif might not even restart the laptop, so that would be a problem. A better idea is probably not to use a script at all, but to put it in a folder labled "Bank passwords", or "My sex photos", and have a note there telling the theif that you'd be willing to negotiate for the files or the laptop.

#7 pajenn

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 09:15 PM

A better idea is probably not to use a script at all, but to put it in a folder labled "Bank passwords", or "My sex photos", and have a note there telling the theif that you'd be willing to negotiate for the files or the laptop.


Or maybe/additionally configure the opening of such a folder to add a registry value* to run another hidden, persistent script at startup. I imagine a script with no tray icon, and a name like svchost.exe (compiled version), for example, would be hard to notice. I've seen people post scripts that turn off the computer after x minutes of idle time. I assume such a method could be used to have a script call home after x minutes or hours of idle time if it detected an open connection, or launch TeamViewer, or another program designed to offer remote access to computers over the internet. Once you had access, you could retrieve the files yourself over the internet. A long shot perhaps, but a crude version of such a script should be quick to write...

*in WinXP(E) that's HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

#8 Z_Gecko

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Posted 29 September 2009 - 09:29 PM

or use http://www.absolute....s/recovery-team if your BIOS supports it

#9 Tuncay

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Posted 30 September 2009 - 05:49 AM

Or maybe/additionally configure the opening of such a folder to add a registry value* to run another hidden, persistent script at startup. I imagine a script with no tray icon, and a name like svchost.exe (compiled version), for example, would be hard to notice.

Sounds like a good malware. :D AutoHotkey is an excellent tool to write keyloggers etc...

May be we can learn from suspicious software developers.

#10 Guests

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Posted 30 September 2009 - 02:05 PM

taking a snapshot usually lights up a small light by the camera..that would be noticable

#11 dyam

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Posted 01 October 2009 - 04:54 AM

Here is a thought !

Enter the correct password before system uptime reaches defined amount or tracker will start sending info home.

win+1 to enter pass

debug t key to see timer status

If is rough code but may help somebody or open other ideas

HTH

#singleinstance force
SetTimer, check_input, 3000
password=1234
uptime := A_TickCount ;
activate_time=100000

msgbox, %uptime%

if A_TickCount < %activate_time% && passset==
{
return
}

t:: msgbox, %A_TickCount%
return

#1::
InputBox, pass, Password, Enter your Password , hide
if ErrorLevel
    MsgBox, Action Canceled.

if not errorlevel ; this just waits till the var is populated
{
passset=%pass%
;msgbox, %passset%
}
if passset=%password%
{
msgbox, tracker disactivated
ExitApp
}
else
{
msgbox, Wrong pass
}
return

check_input:
if A_TickCount > %activate_time%
{
msgbox, tracker activated
gosub, spymode
}
Return


spymode:
msgbox, now spying
ExitApp


#12 Rad777

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Posted 01 October 2009 - 02:53 PM

...........
I would: Turn on the webcam - take a photo and open a secondary email account off the screen and send myself the photo and the IP address.

#13 n-l-i-d

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Posted 01 October 2009 - 06:40 PM

How about something like this:

- Set an unlocking password as hotstring (code example: "unlock")
- Type this password on the desktop before a specific timeout after startup (say, within 10 minutes after startup)
- If timeout and no correct password given, do "security measure" action
- Compile and put in startup folder, or better: registry entry

#NoTrayIcon
SetBatchLines -1
#NoEnv
#SingleInstance force

; the amount of minutes to wait from startup before triggering the "security measures"
[color=red]minsToWait = 10[/color]

isUnlocked = 0
startUp := A_TickCount
SetTimer, CheckUnlock

CheckUnlock:
  If isUnlocked
    ExitApp
  
  If (A_TickCount - startUp > minsToWait * 60 * 1000)
  {
    SetTimer, CheckUnlock, Off
    
    [color=red]; your actions here[/color]
  }
Return

; when desktop active
#IfWinActive ahk_class Progman
; your unlocking password here
:*b0:[color=red]unlock[/color]::
  isUnlocked = 1
Return
#IfWinActive

HTH

#14 Guests

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Posted 01 October 2009 - 09:25 PM

Alternative chioce:

Have script running hidden on the laptop which checks a text file on your freebee ftp for a word at a given time each day.

Example:

If the word in the text file contains the word 'safe' then take no action. Otherwise if the word in the text file equals 'nicked' then start an action on the stolen laptop to monitor the theifs activites.

You would only then need to take action if your laptop was stolen which would save time entering passwords each time your laptop boots up.

The bad point ,, you would need another computer to change the word in the text file ;-(

#15 Carcophan

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Posted 01 October 2009 - 11:06 PM

Not that I speak from experience.... /cough

But anyone who has the 'stones' to steal someones laptop....should probably also know that step #1 is to format the harddrive, or physically pull the HDD, and removing the battery to ensure wi-fi and bluetooth are 100% off.

Aside from any AHK scripts, there are countless other anti-theft programs out there (including the one that takes webcam snapshots without the camera lighting up and can email it out).

Formatted HDD removes the risk of security software ruining the thieves day and the battery removes and cell/wireless type triangulation tracking.


...or so I hear. 8)


All of that aside, and assuming your thief is a highschool freshmen with sticky fingers and no brains.... this idea sounds liks a fun challenge.