LoJAck

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Level 1

23 points

LoJAck

Has anybody used Lojack, or any input on the firmware password for security? Are there other options available?
I like the "erase data" and locator features advertised with Lojack but I have been lead to believe it's relatively simple to circumvent the application.
A quick read of MACs firmware password sounds good as a general stop gap but is it stable and how much trouble can I cause by screwing up the activation?

MAC Pro Desktop MACbook Pro 13", Mac OS X (10.6.2), 2.8ghz 6g ram / 2.5ghz 4g ram

Posted on Dec 18, 2009 9:50 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

K T

Level 7

23,865 points

Dec 18, 2009 9:58 PM in response to MH Holden

? Are there other options available?

Apple has this to say about firmware password:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352

And there is always FileVault I suppose 🙂

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Answer 2

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Dec 18, 2009 10:10 PM in response to MH Holden

I've heard nothing good about lojack (heard pretty bad things about their customer service). generally, any software antitheft solutions are pretty worthless IMO. they rely on thieves being stupid enough to keep using the computer as is. some do but vast majority of computers are stolen for resale. they are reformatted and resold withing hours of theft. antitheft programs such as locjack and undercover claim that having a firmware password will prevent that. what they conveniently fail to mention is that given unrestricted physical access, a firmware password can be easily circumvented. the instructions are widely available on the web and are publicly documented by apple.
if you want to protect your data in case of theft use encryption. but don't count on software solutions like lojack in helping with recovery of the computer.

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Answer 3

MH Holden Author

Level 1

23 points

Dec 19, 2009 1:16 PM in response to V.K.

Thanks both you for the input.
Out of curiosity, is the Apple architecture that "soft" or am I giving to much credit to Wintel security?

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Answer 4

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Dec 19, 2009 1:20 PM in response to MH Holden

I'm no expert on windows but pretty much any software protection can be circumvented given unrestricted physical access to the computer as a thief would have. quite sure that's true for both macs and windows.

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Answer 5

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Dec 19, 2009 1:37 PM in response to V.K.

yep. googling brings up instructions on how to bypass BIOS locks. so same deal with windows computers.

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