tracking software for stolen laptop

[nadine]

Just saw this on Yahoo

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting


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The Problem: Your laptop was stolen, and you want it back.

The Fix: Sign up with a tracking service.

Absolute Software Corp. offers a service dubbed LoJack for Laptops that works for PCs and Macs. You can buy it on the Web or at a computer retail store, costing $49.99 for a year of coverage. It works like this: You download the tracking software to your laptop, which then sends a signal to the company's monitoring center every time it logs on to the Internet.

If you report your machine stolen, the next time it logs on to the Internet, Absolute will be able to trace the computer by its Internet protocol address -- a unique number identifying the computer on the Web. The company then works with law-enforcement agencies to recover the laptop by locating the network it has logged on to -- say, a local coffee shop.

The crooks can't detect if the laptop has the tracking software, the company says. And the software can't be removed or tampered with. Absolute says it has helped recover about 5,000 laptops since it began offering the service in 2005. Be aware, though, that if the thief never logs on to the Internet, there is no way the laptop can be traced. And there is nothing to stop the crooks from pilfering your files before the cops arrive.

Cyberangel Security Solutions Inc. (www.thecyberangel.com) and Brigadoon Security Group (www.pcphonehome.com) also offer laptop-tracking services.

--Joseph De Avila