Undercover
Version: 3.0 ||
Release Date: 2009-01-27 ||
License: Commercial with demo
($49)
Developer: Orbicule, Inc. |
App Owner: orbicule
Because laptops are increasingly popular, and desktops are becoming smaller and more portable, computer theft has reached huge proportions worldwide: there were about 600,000 laptops stolen in the USA in the year 2004. According to a recent FBI report, 97% of all stolen computers are never recovered. Many people we know have had their Macs stolen, often in 'safe' situations. That's why we developed Undercover: a unique theft-recovery application designed from the ground up for Mac OS X.
Required OS: 10.4
Tags:
antitheft
, isight
, security
11 Opinions
Just did a small research:
- Adeona: Big warning at homepage. Currently is not working because the back-end service (openDHT) is unreliable.
Between VigiMac and PREY, I vote for PREY. Seems more complete and has better options.
Some advice! Use a firmware password so the thief can't install/format/access/change the boot!
Some free competitors:
- Adeona (http://adeona.cs.washington.edu)
- Prey (http://preyproject.com)
- VigiMac (http://www.vigimac.com)
The problem now is find which one is better.
- Which one use less resources? Nobody wants a resource hog (i.e Norton AV).
- How to access data (ip location) when stolen. Would be nice to receive an email notification when you activate the tracking in website.
Now Vigimac in English : http://www.vigimac.com/
This is probably the best mac recovery app available for the Mac operating System.
can't read anything on vigimac, only french :(
But I'm sure after the major update of undercover, it won't be able to compete. Undercover is now connected to the Skyhook Wireless service to locate your stolen mac! I bought undercover also as the first program for my MBP. it makes me feel just a littlebit better...
And what about Vigimac (http://fr.vigimac.com/) which is free ?
Well, I bought it. Most anti-climactic install ever. ;) But it's supposed to be. You shouldn't be able to tell it's running, and there's really no sign of its existence, unless you know what to look for.
It's the one app I hope I never have to use!
norz: Probably most thieves won't know that, though. $50 is a good investment against the typical thief who will steal a MacBook, and go plug it in somewhere and start installing software and using it. Just be sure you have a non-password protected account on the MacBook so the thief has something to log into in order to get busted. ;)
The weakness of this kind of protection is that the system can be reinstalled. Even a firmware password won't be enough, as it is reset when there's a hardware change (eg: new RAM).
I'm surprised more people aren't using this. It was one of my first software purchases after I got my MacBook Pro. Sure, I hope it never gets used, but it's comforting to know that if my laptop does get stolen, that there's a better chance of recovery.
Page 1 of 2. 11 entries.