Laptop camera

[PMC]

Below is a clip from Forbes.com, could be fodder for you if you work in an enviroment that is more than 10 second radio. The story raises several issues of what software can do, and what others can do with the result.
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Many a lost laptop has been recovered thanks to tracking software like BackBlaze, LoJack and Hidden that tech-savvy computer owners install in case their machines should fall into the wrong hands. The tales of these recoveries tend to be dramatic ones, with the rightful owner of the computer using location-tracking to see where the computer is when it’s turned on or intercepting browser activities and webcam photos to figure out who the dastardly thief is.

Some victims take pleasure in publicly shaming the thief who nabbed their laptop. Young entrepreneur Mark Bao used BackBlaze to tap into his stolen laptop where he found a home-made video of his thief break-dancing (which he posted to YouTube). A year after someone stole a Macbook from hacker Andrew ‘zoz’ Brooks, he regaled a Defcon audience with the tale of how he tapped into the computer to figure out who the thief was and where he lived; he also shared with the audience naked photos the thief had taken of himself in the shower, as well as messages exchanged with women on dating sites. When I watched that amusing and highly embarrassing pillory, I wondered to myself, “What if the person who is in possession of the computer isn’t actually the thief, but is being shamed as if he is?”

Well, that’s exactly what happened to Susan Clements-Jeffrey, reports Evan Brown at Internet Law Cases. She unknowingly used a stolen laptop to exchange explicit photos with her boyfriend and those photos wound up in the hands of a theft-recovery company and a couple of detectives, who called them “disgusting” when they arrested her. Now she’s suing the police department and Absolute Software, and she’s got a strong case…

While working as a substitute teacher at an “alternative high school” in Ohio in 2008, Clements-Jeffrey purchased a laptop from one of the students for $60. The low, low price probably should have tipped her off that the laptop was stolen. The student told her that the laptop was messed up and that his parents had given him a new one. In fact, the laptop belonged to another school district and had been reported stolen by a student who had checked it out and was using it at a public library.

Clements-Jeffrey, 52, got the laptop fixed up and then started using it to correspond with her long-distance boyfriend. Given the distance, their correspondence was at times quite sexually explicit, including steamy emails and instant messages (gSex?) and the exchange of naked photos.
LoJack

Little did Clements-Jeffrey and her bf, Carlton Smith, know that the laptop had theft-recovery security software installed on it. The software was called “LoJack for Laptops” and was provided by Absolute Software. After it was reported stolen, the school district asked Absolute to retrieve information from the laptop to recover it. (If you followed the Pennsylvania school spycam story, this probably sounds familiar.) Once activated, it reported the laptop’s IP address, and granted Absolute remote access over the computer, with the ability to intercept emails, capture screenshots, and log key strokes.

Absolute captured screenshots of both lovebirds doing their best porn star poses. The Absolute recovery officer sent the explicit photos along with location information for the stolen laptop to the Springfield Police Department. The police made their way to Clements-Jeffrey’s house with a warrant to seize the laptop. Clements-Jeffrey told them she hadn’t realized it was stolen. According to a judicial opinion [pdf] in the case (via Internet Cases), the officers “told her that she was stupid and that she was under arrest” for receiving stolen property. They also showed her the sexy shots and “told her she should have known better than to do that kind of stuff on the webcam.” One of the prudish detectives wasn’t a fan of the photos, calling them “disgusting.”

The charges against Clements-Jeffrey were eventually dismissed, but she sued the police department and Absolute Software for invasion of privacy, constitutional violations (on the part of the police department) and violating computer crime laws.

Full story is here http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill ... the-thief/