Track and recover Linux devices with Prey
Mayank Sharma has a Gollum-esque attachment to his devices and a Nazgûl-like force to rain down vengeance on anyone who takes them.
You don’t have to be careless to lose your laptop, but that doesn’t mean you should just accept the fact that your machine is gone forever. Prey helps recover your stolen devices by enabling you to track and control them remotely, and make them unusable to anyone who’s got them. Prey helps you keep an eye on the perpetrator, and how they’re using your machine and collate all kinds of information that will come in handy when you report the theft to the authorities.
Prey installs an agent on your device that runs in the background and periodically sends an HTTP request to check in with its online headquarters whether it should gather information and perform any action, or stay asleep. When you lose a device, you mark it as such on Prey’s dashboard and the device then starts collecting data to help you track it down.
Besides Linux, Prey works on several operating systems including Windows, macOS, and even Android and iOS, so you can use it to track laptops and mobile devices as well. You can use it for free to track up to three devices, or upgrade to one of the several paid plans that start from US$5 per month (about $6.50). The Prey project has precompiled binaries for deb-based distros such as Debian and Ubuntu. To set up Prey on these distros, head to the Download section on the project’s website ( www.preyproject.com) and grab either the 32- or 64-bit binary. Then double-click the .deb file to install the Prey agent. There are a couple of other ways to install Prey. Some distros package Prey in their official or thirdparty repositories like Arch’s AUR. Furthermore, since it’s written in Node.js, you can install Prey using the npm package manager. First install Node.js using your distro’s package manager ( nodejs.org/ en/download/package-manager) and then type npm install -g prey to fetch the Prey client from the npm repository. Remember, however, that unlike the official binary packages, you’ll have to manually update this installation with npm update -g prey whenever a new version is released. After the client installs, Prey will fire up its graphical configuration tool. The first time around, you’ll have to create a new account by filling in your name, email address and a password. That’s all there’s to it. In the background, the Prey agent will add this computer to the list of tracked devices. It’ll automatically pick up the name of the device and its type, which you can edit later from Prey’s control panel. For subsequent installations on other devices, select the option to link the device with your existing account and the device will automatically be tracked.
LAY THE TRAP
After you’ve set up your device, you can configure its behaviour via Prey’s web-based control panel. Head to the project’s website and click the Log In button in the top-right corner and authenticate with the email address and password that you specified on first launch.
The control panel is broken into various sections that manage different aspects of the device. By default, the control panel takes you to the Devices section that lists all the added devices. Click a device to view the autocollated information gathered by the Prey agent. The landing page for each device shows you brief information about the device, such as its OS and the version of the Prey client it’s running. The gears
icon on the top helps you alter the name of the device or remove it from the list of devices being tracked.
Switch to the Hardware information section for more details about the hardware on the device, such as its serial number, which comes in handy when submitting a detailed report to the authorities. The ‘Maps and Action’ section displays the device’s lastknown location along with a button to display its current location by sending a query to the device.
KEEP IT PERSONAL
Prey also has a very useful geofencing feature with which you can mark personalised zones in the map and ask Prey to send you an email whenever one of the devices assigned to a zone leaves or enters the area. Head to the Control Zones tab to define a zone in relation to the current location of a device. After creating the zone, you’ll have to mark the devices you wish to add to this zone. By default, Prey will email you whenever a device enters or leaves this zone, but you can disable either of these two actions.
Adjacent to the map is the Actions flap that lists several activities you can perform remotely on the device from the dashboard. Some of these options are designed to help you find your device or perhaps even dissuade the thief if they’re in the vicinity. The Alarm option sounds a loud alarm from your missing device to help you locate it, if it’s nearby. It lists four different sounds that will be blared out from the speakers on the device for 30 seconds. Then there’s the Alert option that displays an alert message on the screen of the missing device. You can use it to send a 250 character-long notification that’ll be displayed on the desktop of the device.
If these don’t work to discourage the thief, you can use the Lock option to prevent the computer from being used until a password is entered. You can also sound the alarm after locking the device to prevent the perpetrator from muting the speakers. The lock can be turned off remotely as well, and is a good means of irritating the thief when used together with the alarms and notifications.
KEEP TABS ON THE PREY
When you lose the laptop, log in to Prey’s web panel, head to the device’s page and click the big red button to mark it as missing. Prey can discreetly gather lots of information about the missing device and its current operator.
As soon as the device comes online, Prey will use nearby Wi-Fi access points to interpolate the location on your device. It also gathers other network-related information such as the public IP address of the network the device is connected to. In addition to its location, Prey also takes a screenshot of the desktop. Sooner or later, you’ll receive a screenshot of him logging into his account on a webmail or some other website. While you won’t get his password, you’ll be able to clearly see his unique username, using which you can contact him. If your device has an built-in webcam, Prey will also secretly take snapshots of whoever’s facing it. It won’t take long before you catch the crook in front of your stolen device.
You can set the interval after which Prey wakes up and collects the required information. The free version gathers up to 10 reports every 10 or 20 minutes, while the paid version can fetch reports every two minutes. Prey emails you the reports on the address you used to register with the service.
You’re all set now. As soon as the miscreant goes online with your stolen device, the Prey client will alert the Prey web service. So while we hope you never lose your laptop, in case you do, you’re now fully prepared to take on the guy who’s got it. Prey equips you with the tool to either force them to return your device or collect enough information to build a strong case for the authorities to take action.
The paid versions offer some additional useful features, particularly remote wipe that helps you delete all kinds of files. For example, if you select Documents, the Prey client will remove the Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Pictures and Videos directories for every user. Similarly, selecting Password will zap the .gnome2/ keyrings and .ssh directories, and Emails will remove all data related to local mail and Thunderbird. Users of the Business edition get some additional features that’ll help them track multiple devices, such as customisable labels and advanced search.