Laptop was stolen, what should I do?
February 15, 2013 4:28 PM   Subscribe

My Macbook Air was stolen this afternoon, with my gmail accounts open in browser windows. I logged out of all locations and changed passwords, requested a new credit card, and am planning to open new bank accounts (because I'd downloaded bank statements on a couple of occasions). What else should I do? Is there anything I can do remotely to track or wipe the computer if I (stupidly) hadn't installed anything to do that? What should I do to protect my work computer from the same fate? Thank you for your help!
posted by three_red_balloons to Computers & Internet (7 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you have iCloud, they have a "Find My Mac" feature you can use without having installed anything.
posted by primethyme at 4:34 PM on February 15, 2013 [2 favorites]


Next time install Prey
posted by anadem at 4:38 PM on February 15, 2013 [5 favorites]


Find My Mac you could even find your computer. Log into iCloud, see if you have it.
posted by phaedon at 4:43 PM on February 15, 2013


Change your AppleID, home's Wifi password also. Think of what else might be stored in your Keychain.
posted by phaedon at 4:56 PM on February 15, 2013


Response by poster: Unfortunately didn't have iCloud...
posted by three_red_balloons at 5:03 PM on February 15, 2013


- Insurance if you have it, call them and let them know.
- Put a hold on your credit with one of the big three agencies.
- If you get another Mac or if your work machine is a mac and it's not going to make waves, use Filevault (or the windows equivalent).
- Use a password manager, I suggest 1 password or Lastpass. If you use lastpass, opt for the Yubikey.
- Install Prey as mentioned above.
posted by iamabot at 6:35 PM on February 15, 2013


If you have bought anything off of iTunes or the App Store then I think your machine should be registered on iCloud. Use the same username and password to log in as you did for buying music/apps/etc. From there you can lock the machine with a 4-digit passcode, and have it display a message when it's next connected to the net.

I think a tech-savvy thief can get around this, but the average one will be lost.
posted by egypturnash at 8:55 PM on February 15, 2013


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