TSRI - IT Services

Theft Prevention for your Macintosh

Theft of laptop and other small computers, such as iMacs and Mac minis has become an increasing problem. Here are a few things you can do to prevent theft of your Mac:

Physical security first

You should always lock your office or lab when you leave. Lock laptops in drawers when not in use, and tie systems down with a security cable specifically made for the purpose. All current portable Macs feature a security lock slot.

Software solutions MacOSX 10.4.x (Tiger) and 10.5.x (Leopard) only

In addition to the more conventional theft deterrents mentioned above, IT Services now offers an ingeneous software solution to help recover stolen Macs, Orbicule Undercover. An Orbicule Undercover license costs $6 per computer. To place an order send a Form 75 for $6 to IT Services, attn. Alexa Cain, x4-9379, email alexa@scripps.edu.

Undercover works silently and invisibly in the background, checking in with the vendor's site every so often. Once you report your Mac as stolen, after the next check-in, the software will spring into action. Normally this is when the thief tries to use the laptop and connects to the internet (72% of the thieves do that). The software will transmit the current IP address and other internet-related info, which allows the vendor and/or police to contact the thief's ISP and obtain a real name and address. In addition the software will transmit screen snapshots and it will take pictures with the built-in iSight camera (if available) and transmit these back to the vendor. With all this information in hand, it is usually possible to track down and recover the computer and bring the thief to justice. The reported recovery rate is 96%.

How to report a stolen Mac

If your Mac is TSRI property you should always notify TSRI security first at 4-2000. They will help collect all necessary information and coordinate work with San Diego police. If your Mac has Undercover installed by IT Services, call our helpdesk at 858-784-9369.

For private copies of Undercover go to http://orbicule.com/theft and report your Mac's Undercover ID. (You safely stored this number, didn't you?). In any case, be sure to report the incident to the local police and get a case number. Orbicule will work with the police and supply them with any information their software is able to gather.

Recommended settings to improve Undercover function

Disable auto login for your main account. Don't make it any easier for a thief to get at your data and change system settings. You should do this on any Mac as a matter of principle.
Make a dummy account without admin privileges and with an easily guessed password. This is the bait account to make the thief use the laptop so that we can catch him/her. Consider enabling some parental controls to limit access to software and/or files. Please note that the easily guessed password presents a slight security risk. Do not name this account Guest! Many hacking tools scan for accounts named guest and will crack the simple password.
To make sure Undercover cannot be uninstalled or deleted by erasing your HD, you can install the Apple firmware password utility. This Apple-made tool prevents anyone from booting your Mac from another disk than the current startup disk, unless they know the firmware password. To summarize: you will still be able to boot from another startup disk (to erase your HD, or to do a clean install of OS X) but a thief won't because he does not know your firmware password. You can find the firmware password utility on your Mac OS X Tiger DVD (in /Applications/Utilities/ on the DVD). Be sure to safely store your firmware password somewhere so you can retrieve it when you haven't used it for two years. IT Services can do this for you.