Prey is a lightweight application that will help you track and find your laptop and android phone if it ever gets stolen. It works in all operating systems and not only is it Open Source but also completely free. so basically you install a tiny agent in your PC or phone, which silently waits for a remote signal to wake up and work its magic.
This signal is sent either from the Internet or through an SMS message, and allows you to gather information regarding the device’s location, hardware and network status, and optionally trigger specific actions on it
{xtypo_quote_right}From installation to tracking activation, Prey runs silently in the background and uses minimum resources, so thieves would be unaware their movements are being watched. about.com{/xtypo_quote_right}
Prey Features:
Prey Features:– Prey uses either the device’s GPS or the nearest WiFi hotspots to triangulate and grab a fix on its location. It’s shockingly accurate.
– Know your enemy : Take a picture of the thief with your laptop’s webcam so you know what he looks like and where he’s hiding. Powerful evidence.
– Wifi autoconnect If enabled, Prey will attempt to hook onto to the nearest open WiFi hotspot when no Internet connection is found.
– Watch their movements : Grab a screenshot of the active session — if you’re lucky you may catch the guy logged into his email or Facebook account!
– Scan your hardware : Get a complete list of your PC’s CPU, motherboard, RAM, and BIOS information. Works great when used with Active Mode.
– No unauthorized access : Fully lock down your PC, making it unusable unless a specific password is entered. The guy won’t be able to do a thing!
– Light as a feather : Prey has very few dependencies and doesn’t even leave a memory footprint until activated. We care as much as you do.
– Keep your data safe: Hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally remove your stored passwords, so no one will be able to look into your stuff.
– Full auto updater: Prey can check its current version and automagically fetch and update itself, so you don’t need to manually reinstall each time.
How to install Prey in Ubuntu and Other Linux distributions:
– For Ubuntu: Download the .deb package and install it.
After installation, open prey and go to Main settings, select Enable guest account and Wifi autoconnect to improve the possibilities to trace your laptop.
– Reporting mode: choose the recommended one Prey+Control panel
If you are not registred, create a new account and you are done.
– For other Linux distributions: Download the zip package for Linux and install it using the following :
First , unzip the package (Prey-xxx-Linux.zip) and move all the contents to a folder of your choice e.g: /usr/share/prey. Then you need to open up the config file and change your settings according to your configuration. If you’re using the Control Panel, then you only need to insert your API (You can find it under account information) and Device keys; otherwise you need to set up your SMTP server settings.
Finally, you need to add a crontab entry for root. You can do this by typing the following in a terminal:
$ (sudo crontab -l | grep -v prey; echo "*/20 * * * * /usr/share/prey/prey.sh > /var/log/prey.log") | sudo crontab -
How to use Prey:
Now, Once you are registered and get your device (laptop) listed on the website, you can tell Prey, via the website anytime, that your laptop is missing by going to http://control.preyproject.com clicking on the appropriate device listing , changing the “Missing” slide switch to “on” and hitting the update button at the bottom of the page. There are other options in there you can change as well to suit your needs. The next time your laptop can find an internet connection and check in, Prey will have it sending reports out so you can find it.
Some screenshots from Prey control Panel:
– Configuration for phones (Android) and Laptops:
– Additional configuration for Laptop
Useful Links: http://preyproject.com/
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