Silent But Deadly

Posted by Sam Blake on 26 February 2012. 1 Comment so far.

There is a new a gadget that brings James Bond right into your living room, and, to be honest, I’m not sure why I’m telling you about it, because I should be scurrying off to write it into a plot. But I have to share it, because it’s so @#!*% clever, and one day, it might save your bacon (to use a cliche – which obviously we never do in fiction).

So what is it? *Cue drum roll* It’s called Prey, and its an app you can install on your phone or laptop that, should your precious device be stolen, can be activated to do the following:

1. Show your device’s location

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.

If enabled, Prey will attempt to hook onto to the nearest open WiFi hotspot when no Internet connection is found.

2. Locks your precious device down

Once Prey is activated it fully locks down your PC, making it unusable unless a specific password is entered. The crook who has it won’t be able to do a thing.

Prey can also hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally remove your stored passwords, so no one will be able to look into your stuff.

And

3. (This is the BEST bit) Prey will take a picture of the thief with your laptop’s webcam so you know what he looks like and where he’s hiding.  It will also grab a screenshot of the active session — if you’re lucky you may catch the guy logged into his email or Facebook account!

How clever is that?

I’m obviously a bit behind the rest of the world as over 37,000 people have already liked this app on Facebook and 100,000 people have Tweeted it. The Sunday Times ran a great article showing exactly how Prey had been used to apprehend the criminals who had stolen various devices, including one guy who had left the stolen laptop open next to his bed, and gone to sleep. The app was activated, the webcam took a picture of him and the device’s GPS told its owner and the police exactly where it was.

I can see Prey featuring in crime fiction in a big way in the very near future!

Prey says “The signal to activate 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.

You can quickly find out where your computer is located, who’s using it, and what he’s doing on it thanks to Prey’s powerful reports system.

By marking your device as missing, Prey will gather all the evidence you request and send it either to your Control Panel account or directly to your mailbox, depending on the reporting method you choose.

Besides gathering information, you can also trigger actions remotely such as sounding a loud alarm or showing a message which will appear onscreen – just in case you want the guy to know he’s being chased at.

You can also wipe your stored passwords for security, or even lock down your PC to prevent access. In other words, you’re in control.”

Visit www.preyproject.com to download to your laptop or phone – up to 3 devices are free.

Doesn’t get much better does it?

One Response to “Silent But Deadly”

1. Alonso Loser says:

   2 April 2012 at 7.27am

   This was a nice read. Honestly, keep up the good work.

   Reply