They're expensive, small and easy to steal. Media devices such as iPods, PSP, USB flash drives, digital cameras and others are hot items for thieves. Once stolen chances are very slim that they will be recovered. What if your device could phone home? Well now it can. And it's free
GadgetTheft offers a free service which can help you track your stolen USB gadget.
With the patent-pending GadgetTrak™ system, you simply register your device and install the agent files in the root of your device. If your device is stolen you log into the interface and flag it as lost or stolen.
The next time the device is accessed it will attempt to contact us and provide critical forensic data regarding the system it is plugged into including:
- Public IP Address
- Location (Country, City, State &Zip)*
- Username
- Computer Name
- Host name of ISP
- Internal network IP address
The patent-pending GadgetTrak™ system enables USB device owners to track missing or stolen devices. The agent files are installed in the root of a USB mass storage devices, such as a USB flash drive, digital camera and iPods. When the device is plugged into a system running Windows XP a prompt may appear telling the user to "install a USB driver". This is actually a social engineering trick, no USB drivers are really required. When this prompt appears you can simple click on "cancel" or "OK" nothing will happen until the device is reported stolen.
Data Collected by the GadgetTheft service:
Public IP Address
The IP address that is viewable by external servers, usually provided by an ISP, organization etc, or possibly shared within an office.
Internal IP Address
The IP address used by the system to communicate within an internal network. This can be helpful if the device is plugged in to another system within the same organization, such as a College, High School or company.
Location
The location of the system, including Country, State, City and Zip code, as well as Area Code. This is as close as we can get currently and is not 100% accurate. For more specific details such as address you will need to contact law enforcement who can then contact the ISP to get more specific details.
Computer Name and Username
The username of the user logged into the system at the time as well as the computer name. This can be particularly helpful in organizations such as a College or High School.
IP Whois and Host Name
Information on who the IP address belongs to, this is helpful when the IP address belongs to an ISP, it can provide contact information regarding abuse etc. The host name is also provided, sometimes this can give away information about the |
