The upside of a broadband connection is that the IP address will almost definitely change less often than with dialup. Unlike his situation, where the thief was using a dialup modem, it's almost certain, since newer Macs don't do dialup, that the thief is using a broadband connection, and is behind some kind of NAT router.Įven if SSH were enabled on the machine, port forwarding would have to be set up on the router for you to access the machine's SSH listening port from the outside. The key to doing something similar to what Zoz did is getting SSH access. It sounds like you're competent with shell scripting and just need an attack vector. We'll make sure to check with the police before we do anything to ensure we don't break any laws. I know this question is basically about writing a form of malware, but I'd love to be able to emulate my hero from the What Happens When You Steal a Hacker’s Computer DEF CON lecture. Applescript? Has anybody got any better ideas than pushing a Dropbox file to it? Is there a way to do this without user accepting security popups?ĭoes anybody have any tips here? I've written plenty of shell scripts, but was wondering if other OS X options might be better, e.g. It sounds like I might be able to use the mail command (to a free e-mail account of course)? I'm not sure of the best way to send this info back though. browser history, look for iPhone backups, etc.

Make the file a shell script to slurp up as much useful info as possible, e.g.

Is there any way to do this without the user being made aware?

Install some sort of key logger to send all the info back to the owner.

I'm guessing I'll only get one shot at this, so wanted some ideas on the best thing to do. I was considering pushing an enticing file into Dropbox to get the user to click on it.

The original owner isn't a techie, so she's very unlikely to have turned on any of the remote control features like SSH, VNC etc (I've e-mailed her to ask).

The original owner's Dropbox is still synchronizing, which gives us the IP address each time it comes online.

There was only a single user account, with no password, and with admin privileges.

It is running OS X, but I'm not sure exactly which version (I will find out though).

Here are the facts about the stolen Macbook: I was wondering if we could help find the laptop, as then the person with it could be arrested now for handling stolen goods (otherwise they might reinstall it before the police catch them).

She has given this information to the police, who say it may take up to a month to get the real location from the IP address.

Her Dropbox account is still working on the Macbook, so she can see each time the Macbook comes online, and she can get its IP address. A friend of mine just had her Macbook stolen.

How to find a stolen macbook