OH - Susan Jeffrey needed a computer, so she decided to buy a used laptop. She hooked up her Webcam and started chatting online with a childhood sweetheart in Boston. After a few weeks of sending messages and what she called private pictures to him, police showed up at her Springfield home.
"They shook a little paper and they said, 'We have a warrant for your arrest,'" Jeffrey said. "I said, 'What?'"
It turned out that the laptop Jeffrey bought was stolen... The computer was equipped with Absolute Software's Computrance LoJack for Laptops.
Jeffrey noticed officers holding a picture of her friend from Boston. She recognized the picture from one of their Web chats. "I was totally stunned," Jeffrey said. "I said, 'How did you get that?'"
Absolute Software's LoJack technology goes beyond tracking. It allows the company to tap into a computer and access files, pictures and essentially anything on the laptop.
"I was just totally stunned," Jeffrey said. "I could barely talk. I just couldn't believe that you could sit in America and be tapped into your own (computer), in the privacy of your own living room." (more, with video)
While LoJack is a good product, it can produce unexpected consequences.
Worse, your new "used" laptop could also be deliberately outfitted with criminal spyware. Blackmail, business secret loss, identity theft and credit card fraud are the unexpected consequences here. These costs can't be pre-calculated.
Expect the unexpected. Be sure to add the cost of having your new "used" laptop - professionally - sanitized to the final purchase price. ~ Kevin
