A reminder – Prey is a program / project that allows you to track a computer or mobile phone in the event it gets stolen. It does this by installing a program onto the computer, adding the computer to your account and in the event your computer get stolen, you change it on the web page (using another computer of course) and the next time it is switched on and is on the net – all the information is relayed back to you such as IP, ISP and location. Of course it is not foolproof, should the said Thief wipe your machine / harddrive before putting it back on-line, then no way to track it. They have now introduced Pro Accounts which allows more computers and other good features.

Free Accounts

The Free Accounts are still there, this is 3 devices and 10 reports each and for most home users, this will be fine as this could include a desktop computer, a Laptop and an Android phone for example.

Pro Accounts

If you pay extra (a month) you get not only more devices you can track but also:

• Active Mode lets you know when your PCs last “checked in” by storing the timestamps of the heartbeats they send. This lets you know which of them are actually powered up and connected and which are not. Quite useful to detect when something weird is going on.
• Active Hardware Scan notifies you whenever a hardware change is detected in your PC, which is great for preventing RAM thefts (a common yet hard to detect kind of theft).
• You get the ability to increase the frequency for reports and actions up to super-fast two minutes.
• All your reports are secured with level 3 SSL encryption, so you can rest assured your information will always stay safe from sniffers.

You get a 10% discount if you choose to pay annually, and needless to say, you can upgrade, downgrade or cancel your Pro account any time, no hidden fees, no strings attached

How much is your device worth?

Looking at a company who might need to track a lot of devices, getting that laptop back quickly saves a lot of money, not just for the hardware but for the data stored on the device.

Prey is a lightweight application that will help you track and find your laptop if it ever gets stolen. It works in all operating systems and not only is it Open Source but also completely free.

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 successful 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?