Maximum PC theft RSS Feed

Belgian Thieves Steal $3M Worth of iPhones

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:44:19 -0600

This past weekend, thieves made away with $3 million worth of iPhones from a warehouse in Willebroek, Belgium. The warehouse is owned and managed by a logistics company CEVA Logistics. Initial reports suggest that the thieves had done their homework quite well. Apparently, the heist wasn’t really a tall order for the thieves as they had a fire ladder with them, which they used to climb the roof.

They entered the building by drilling a hole in the roof. Initial reports differ on the number of iPhones pilfered, with the number hovering between 3,000 and 4,000. The thieves have compounded wireless carrier Mobistar’s woes: the carrier is finding it hard to keep pace with the huge demand for the iPhone.

Mobistar says it has already blacklisted the serial numbers of the stolen phones, effectively staving off their use on its network. However, it may prove to be a futile attempt as the iPhones sold in Belgium don’t feature a SIM-lock and so can be used on another network. There is still no breakthrough in the case.

Image Credit: CommittedSardine

Man Faces Criminal Prosecution for Domain Name Theft

Paul Lilly — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:10:28 -0500

New Jersey resident Daniel Goncalves is making history as the first person ever to be arrested and charged for domain name theft in the United States.

Goncalve, a 25-year-old law firm computer technician, stands accused of hacking into Albert Angel's AOL email account and using that information to retrieve the login details for P2P.com from Angel's Godaddy.com domain account. Probably not the best target to go after, Angel is an attorney and former Justice Department prosecutor with a background in internet payment processing.

According to reports, Goncalve also falsified Paypal.com transaction records in an attempt to cover his trail and make it appear as though he purchased the domain for $1,500 from the Angels, much lower than the $160,000 Albert Angel, his wife Lesli Angel, and domain name investor Marc Ostrosfsky paid for the domain in 2005.

There's a whole lot more to this story, which involves an Ebay sale to Mark Madsen, an NBA basketball player with the LA Clippers (and a terrible dancer). You can read all the gory details here.

Image Credit: Flickr Joe Gratz

Latest Way to Misuse Google Earth: Stealing Expensive Fish

Andy Salisbury — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:22:12 -0500

While the world has proven itself capable of misusing Google Earth in many different ways, its latest application has been to steal fish.

That’s right folks, it would appear that high end fish thieves have been employing the same software that was used to find a downed aircraft, to find valuable koi in people’s back yards. According to Police Community Support Officer Gregory, “Google Earth shows what is in your garden and you can see people’s ponds. One of the properties targeted has an eight-foot fence and is set back from the road. The pond is in the corner and can’t be seen. Unless you were standing right next to the wall, you wouldn’t be able to hear the running water.”

And, while they make a riveting point, Google stands up very well under pressure. A spokesperson of theirs replied: “Google Earth is built from information that is available worldwide from a wide range of both commercial and public sources. As such, Google Earth creates no appreciable increase in security risks, given the wide commercial availability of high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery of every country in the world. Criminals could use maps, phones and getaway cars but no one would argue that these technologies are responsible for the crime itself, that responsibility lies with the perpetrator.”

Talk about a verbal smack down.

Image Credit: Google

Intel: Stolen Laptops Cost Companies $50K Each

Paul Lilly — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:38:59 -0500

Having to replace a $2,000 notebook after it's been swiped from under your nose is bad enough, but it's only the tip of the iceberg for business owners, Intel says. According to a study on notebook security commissioned by Intel and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, laptops lifted from airports, taxis, and hotels around the globe end up costing their corporate owners an average of $49,246. That number reflects "the value of the enclosed data above the cost of the PC."

Somewhat surprisingly, it's not the CEO's computer that holds the most value, but a director or manager, the study says. Analyzing 138 instances of lost and stolen notebooks, the study values the average senior executive's laptop to be $28,449, whereas a director or manager's laptop is worth twice as much at about $61,000 each.

The well-timed (or strategically-timed) study comes shortly after Intel's "Poison Pill" Anti-Theft PC Protection technology finds its way onto a pair of Asus notebooks.

Livid Villagers Drive Google Street View Car Out of British Village

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:52:20 -0500

A Google Street View vehicle came up against a tempestuous, unyielding mob in the British village of Broughton. The Street View car had gone there to collect photographs to be used by the Google Street View service. Google’s ingenious camouflage tactic of leaving the car unmarked failed miserably as its peculiar rooftop camera betrayed the vehicle’s identity and purpose of visit.

When a local resident, Paul Jacobs, discovered the vehicle ambling in his languid village, he rushed towards the car’s driver to deliver his sermon about the privacy rights of villagers in quiet British villages. It did not take long for other villagers to rally behind Jacobs.

Their protest eventually paid off as the vehicle had to leave. The locals are worried Street View may help thieves plan burglaries; Broughton has witnessed three burglaries in the past six weeks.

'I don't mind estate agents taking pictures but this shows people how to get in and how to get out. I was determined to make a stand so I called the police,’ said Paul Jacobs.

Image Credit: Boston(dot)com

British Entrepreneur/Looter Uses Google Maps to Identify Targets

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:17:51 -0500

In the most recent case of Google Earth being used for mischief, British Builder Tom Berge used the program to zoom in on historic buildings before stripping them of nearly $227,000 worth of lead from their roofs.

The area that was afflicted by this thieving Brit was primarily South London, where nary a museum, church or school was spared. The 27-year-old admitted to using Google Earth to aid him in more than 30 locations. Berge was served with eight months of jail time and 100 hours of community service.

According to Detective Sergeant Chris Grant, who was in charge of the investigation, “He was a prolific offender up until the time he was arrested. Since then our crime figures for theft of lead have reduced significantly.”

75-year-old Floridian Chases Down Laptop Thief

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:01:03 -0600

Joseph Kohl, a 75-year-old Floridian, proved to be more than a match for a much younger thief. With his life’s very first laptop at stake, Kohl decided to give chase to the 29-year-old thief. Kohl was joined by an off-duty cop - who fortuitously happened to be at the scene - in the pursuit.

Kohl was waiting for his wife outside a Best Buy store after having bought a laptop and a printer, but Samuel Dallas Jarvis showed up instead. Jarvis then proceeded to grab Kohl’s laptop and set out on a run. But, apparently, his pickup was not anything to write home about as he could not really bolt out of the blocks as he would have liked; his elderly victim had to merely run about 8 feet to nab the crook.

When the off-duty cop showed up, it was game, set, match, and laptop to Jarvis. “I have no idea what computers are about, but I didn’t want him taking my first one,” Kohl said after the incident.

Image Credit: BillMullins

Laptops, Cell Phones Lead the Pack in Stolen Gadgets

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:11:34 -0600

According to a report recently published by the FBI, the most stolen gadgets here in the US are laptops, followed closely by cell phones and their smartphone counterparts. And the report is quick to note that the theft numbers of these items is continuing to rise.

Back in 2008 there were 109,000 stolen laptops, and only 18 percent of those made it back to their owners. During the same year nearly 80,000 cell phones were given the five-finger discount, which is an increase of 33 percent from 2006.

TVs are a hot item on the list as well, with 53,000 of them stolen in 2008. Many of these were LCD TVs, which are apparently much easier to steal thanks to their smaller profile. This number is a 130 percent increase from 2006.

Let this be extra incentive to you, folks! Keep your gadgets safe at all times, don’t let them talk to strangers and hope that if they are taken, that you’re in the lucky fraction that get theirs back. We’d certainly want you to be.

Image Credit: Asus, McDonald's