Stolen MacBook Nets Drug Dealers

Photo: Alf Ove Hansen/Dagbladet.no

Nerdy Norwegian Petter Røisland helped police find a fugitive drug dealer, thanks to his stolen MacBook.

Røisland, a 23-year-old who lives near the southern Norwegian town of Stavanger, lost a computer in a burglary last year.

Determined not to get ripped off twice, Røisland installed Orbicle’s Undercover recovery software on two MacBooks he bought as replacement machines. And then in February, they too were stolen.

But when the thief first logged online (which, oddly, was two months later), the recovery software sent details of the thief’s IP address, as well as screenshots of what they were up to onscreen: Facebook profiles and MSN conversations, which Røisland used to identify the crooks. The software alos delivered a coup de grace — photos of the crooks taken with the built-in iSight camera.

At first, the Stavanger police weren’t much interested in recovering Røisland’s laptop until he sent them the webcam pictures. Turns out, the thief was a fugutive drug dealer the police had been hunting. Arrests followed and Røisland’s MacBook was returned — with all his data untouched.

Note: Orbicle’s $50 Undercover software can also cleverly dim the screen in the hope the thief will take it in for repair, where it’ll show up as stolen (the company monitors network settings and claims to know if the machine is sold or taken to a repair shop).

Orbicle’s Recovery Stories page.

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