[Dataloss] fringe: Open source laptop tracking

[security curmudgeon]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Rob, grandpa of Ryan, Trevor, Devon & Hannah" <rMslade at shaw.ca>

I know some people who are going to be really upset by this, but 
personally, I'm delighted:

Researchers at the University of Washington and the University of 
California, San Diego, launched a new laptop tracking service, called 
Adeona, that is free and private. Once downloaded onto a laptop, the 
software starts anonymously sending encrypted notes about the computer’s 
whereabouts to servers on the Internet. If the laptop ever goes missing, 
the user downloads another program, enters a username and password, and 
then picks up this information from the servers, a free storage service 
called OpenDHT.  (The Mac version of Adeona even uses a freeware program 
called isightcapture to take a snapshot of whomever is using the 
computer.) Adeona provides the IP address that it last used as well as 
data on nearby routers. Armed with that information, law enforcement could 
track down the criminal. Because Adeona ships with an open-source license, 
anyone can take the code and improve it or even sell it. The researchers 
say they’re hoping that software developers will build all kinds of new 
features such as Global Positioning System-aware tracking systems for new 
platforms such as the iPhone. Later this month, the Adeona team will give 
a technical presentation at the Usenix Security Symposium in San Jose.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=security&articleId=9110128&taxonomyId=17&intsrc=kc_top

http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/