They look for weaknesses.

Like my buddy says, most security systems are setup to stop the “honest” thieves :-)

And most thieves are goofballs, not computer experts like most of us. All stolen laptops
will never be found but tools like these get most of them back.

What if the theif DOESN’T connect to the internet? Well, yes, that is a problem. But chances are that he/she will. Most people who steal (not all) would not just do it for the Macbook’s iLife programs. Very few people PURCHASE the machine and plan not to use the web.

Personally, I think that it’s an excellent program. I was planning on purchasing a Macbook pro in a few weeks, which is a HUGE investment for a Highschooler. 2 grand is a lot of money, and $40 for a program that can help get it back to you when stolen is a more than worthy program.

Just start the thing in firewire target mode, that way you can snoop the drive for tasty information tidbits before wiping.

Also, just a question for any of you, would you really want this laptop back after someone was using it on the pot? I think theives may deliberately use the laptop on the pot just for this reason!

This story is just an ad, and should be removed from Digg.

Hmm… trust is not something that anyone initially possesses. It is something that has to be *earned*. Until Orbicule *proves* that they are trustworthy, they are not. I see no reason to place any kind of trust into their service, simply because it is the default behaviour. The more is at stake, the more trust is required. My pin codes, passwords, financial records and personal e-mails are far too precious to be readily entrusted to a third party of which I know nothing about (nor can know anything about, since Orbicule has refused my requests for detailed technical specs for their product and the source code). You mileage may, of course, vary.

[ Jerry ]
As for the police not working across international borders, this is a political problem. This company can provide images of the thief, screenshots of what they are doing, the IP address where it is being used, and, with the help if the ISP, the physical address where the computer is connected. What more can you ask for?
[ /Jerry ]

Proof. A solid body of evidence.

Let me elaborate. Assume that you are the police investigator receiving a report from Orbicule. What kind of credibility does a company that you know nothing about have? *Why* should a privacy of person’s home be violated? On a basis of a single e-mail? How do the police *know* that the snapshot taken is really the picture of a thief?

The investigation is by no means completed. Maybe someone played a practical joke. Maybe the e-mail report is a fake (after all, even such a trivial thing as the e-mail’s authenticity cannot be verified). And suppose the police do find a laptop. What should they do then? There is no reliable piece of information that the police have that contradicts the thief’s statement “it is my laptop”. None (remember, Orbicule carries no credibility by default. The police in a different country has no reliable information that Orbicule is actually a company providing such a service, and not a scam artist). Also, remember that the country’s local ISP is presented with the same conundrum — they cannot trust an e-mail which asks for a physical address for an IP-address based solely on an e-mail from someone they know nothing about. That information is (fortunately) available through a warrant only. Well, at least in some countries.

There is far more to a potential investigation than simply slapping an e-mail together, and waiting for some divine magic to pour from Orbicule.