Prey is a lightweight application that will help you track and find your laptop if it ever gets stolen. It is multiplatform, free and open-source under the GPL v3 license.
Recover what is rightfully yours
Prey helps you locate your missing laptop by sending timed reports with a bunch of information of its whereabouts. This includes the general status of the computer, a list of running programs and active connections, fully-detailed network and wifi information, a screenshot of the running desktop and — in case your laptop has an integrated webcam — a picture of the thief.
Silent but deadly
Prey uses a remote activation system which means the program sits silently in your computer until you actually want it to run. If so, it gathers all the information and sends it to your Prey web control panel or directly to your mailbox. The thief will never know his movements are being watched.
And because there’s always hope
You may be thinking “but what’s the point of this program if the guy will probably just format the thing right away?” and you’re completely right. However, experience shows that thieves tend to look in stolen computers for valuable information, so there’s actually a chance you can catch the guy (and there’s even some succesful cases!).
Besides, if by using Prey you can keep alive a tiny bit of hope that you’ll recover your computer, isn’t it already worth it?
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Here are some key features of "Prey":
· Wifi autoconnect: Prey checks if there’s an active internet connection to send the information. If not, it will attempt to connect to the nearest open wifi access point available. This gives you a better chance to locate the device.
· Geo location aware: Prey uses wifi hotspots to locate devices geographically. This not only includes lat/lng coordinates, but also an altitude indicator — yes, that means you can also know (aprox.) in which floor the computer is.
· Lightweight: Yes, this is a feature. Prey is written in bash which means it has virtually no dependencies, only what it different modules need to work. This also means Prey is portable and should run in just about any computer.
· Modular arquitecture: You can add, remove and configure the different parts of Prey as you wish. Prey is composed by modules, each one performing a specific task, so you can have it as you like.
· Powerful report system: Get the list of current running programs, the recently modified files, active connections, running uptime, take a screenshot of the running desktop or even a picture of the guy who’s using the computer.
· Messaging/alert system: You can alert the user he’s being chased at by sending messages which’ll appear on screen. You can also trigger alarms to make the message clear not only to him but also to whomever is nearby. Be careful with this one!
· Module auto-installer: You don’t have to reinstall Prey to keep up with the latest and greatest modules. We keep a repository from where Prey will fetch what it needs to get the job done.
What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]
All platforms:
· New Geo module for geolocating PCs using wifi hotspots as reference.
· Double check for network connection, in case the network blocks ICMP (ping) requests.
· Hidden temp folder for better cloaking when Prey is woken up.
· A lot of code optimizations, better handling of functions and variables, less filesystem access.
· Fewer requests for communicating with Control Panel.
· Split core into smaller chunks; better structure in general.
· Added hooks for asynchronous job support for modules.
· Updated email client to version 1.56.
· Better logging of actions and responses, to make debugging easier.
· Enhanced security for Control Panel, clients now get a unique one-time URL for posting reports, to avoid eventual device spoofing.
· Added updater so you don’t need to reinstall the core files for each release (to use you must enable “Auto update” for your device on the Control Panel).
· Optimized parsing of traces. They are also now handled with URL encoding.
· Email’s from Standalone mode are better formatted, and they don’t include the previous header message any more.
Module updates:
· Session: Better uptime output in Windows.
· Alert: Support for text-to-speech in Linux (requires festival or espeak installed).
· Alert: Now shouts the message only upon request. Disabled by default.
· Session: Get current logged in user
· Network: Get gateway IP as well.
· Webcam: Better quality of pictures in Windows.
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