I'm sorry this happened. I guess my only advice can be to call the police, don't leave your macbook here and there, and turn on find my mac!
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Macbook Air Stolen - Need Advice Please
- Thread starter eugmac
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This is indeed unfortunate.
If it's so easy to reset passwords then I wonder why Apple bothers with passwords at all.
I just had a password on my MBA's user account because I figured it's inconvenient enough for somebody to take the SSD out and read the contents with another machine but I guess I will be turning on FileVault.
Depending on what state you live in, you may have other ways to retaliate. In my state we can shoot people stealing our property. I think I'd throw another backpack in my back seat one night, stake out the vehicle and when they come to steal your stuff, turn them over to the police with a few extra bullet holes. Just let them get away from your car first, you wouldn't want any buckshot to mess up the bodywork.
I love Americans, but that was probably the most stereotypical American thing ever said. Well done.
Another thing you could have done, was that if you were near the house you thought had your mac, you should have set it to ping loudly, if the police had heard the pinging noise they would have been able to access the property to retrieve the article and you would have had a case.
Like others have said don't ever leave valuables in the car. Ever.
Good luck next time.
K
Like others have said don't ever leave valuables in the car. Ever.
Good luck next time.
K
I have to say, I'm stunned. I would have bet you were mistaken, but yep, apparently it's really easy to do. I've always known it's fairly easy to access the account data in other ways (e.g. removing the drive or booting up from an external drive, etc.), but this is the kind of thing someone could do in a few minutes just sitting down at the computer with no tools or other devices. Really unbelievable. I still feel like I'm missing something.
To be clear, if you're using FileVault, you're safe. Here's a pretty good article on how it all works with FileVault and EFI. cnet article link.
Newbie here so forgive me for what might be some stupid questions but what is an efi password? And are you telling me that the login password I have set is pretty much breakable with a simple command line, meaning someone who does this can access my data? I was under the impression that you can access the computer, but you would have to erase everything first...
And about FileVault, will it slow down my computer? What's the difference between that and the regular password protection that I have set up now?
Yes, FileVault will slow down your computer somewhat. Disk reads and writes anyway. Usually not by an amount that people notice.
It keeps data on your disk encrypted, so if somebody steals your computer they will have no way to access your data, even if they remove the drive and try to read it with a different computer.
I guess what you're missing is an EFI password!
The other good tip I've learned is to actually enable Guest Mode with no password so the thief can actually use your stolen laptop to connect to the internet to facilitate you locating it via Find My Mac.
I guess what you're missing is an EFI password!
The other good tip I've learned is to actually enable Guest Mode with no password so the thief can actually use your stolen laptop to connect to the internet to facilitate you locating it via Find My Mac.
I was so focused on the EFI password that I missed that; done.
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I haven't noticed any difference and I've had FileValue on and off a few times. I'm not saying it's not there, just that on my rMBP I haven't noticed the difference.
To me, it's all about how the computer is used. I have FileVault (and now an EFI password) set on my laptop. It gets carried around all week long and gets left unattended for long periods in my office. My Mini, at home, doesn't have either turned on.
Where are you reading that? The only post I see saying any such thing is the guy wanting to post a note on all the houses in the area giving the thief an opportunity to return the laptop before further police action. That seems extremely nice to me.
Depending on what state you live in, you may have other ways to retaliate. In my state we can shoot people stealing our property. I think I'd throw another backpack in my back seat one night, stake out the vehicle and when they come to steal your stuff, turn them over to the police with a few extra bullet holes. Just let them get away from your car first, you wouldn't want any buckshot to mess up the bodywork.
If you live in the United states, you are dead wrong. You can NEVER use lethal force to protect property. You can only use it to protect another person or yourself. Period.
If your state has strong second amendment laws and a solid iteration of the castle doctrine, you may be able to use lethal force IF YOU ARE IN YOUR HOME/CAR/BUSINESS. But the way you stated it is misleading. A person can never set up a "spring-gun" setup or any booby trap to protect your property. FURTHERMORE, you can never go seek retaliation after the theft/larceny/robbery is over... Especially if we are talking a few days lapse.
Check your local laws and speak with any attorney friends you may have for further clarification on what is permitted in your state. I am only posting this because I really don't want someone to rely on the info some "internet tough guy" posted.
First if you remotely wipe the info off the machine, does that make the find my laptop feature turn off?
also you should have file vault on. i do not believe it has anything to do with performance, perhaps with some permissions issues if there's a lot of data to encrypt. it takes awhile for it to load on earlier machines, but on my rMBP, it was less than ever for the wait.
apple will be able to contact you if the laptop surfaces. instead of wipe you should at the very least lock. you can also play sounds, and messages to the device, and if the officer hears that, its reasonable cause.
if you have the find my laptop on and it gives the location and you show that to the officer, that is reasonable cause for a search. without a warrant, they can knock and interrogate. its not like it hasn't been done before. if there's reason to suspect stolen property they can pursue the issue if they so choose.
also you should have file vault on. i do not believe it has anything to do with performance, perhaps with some permissions issues if there's a lot of data to encrypt. it takes awhile for it to load on earlier machines, but on my rMBP, it was less than ever for the wait.
apple will be able to contact you if the laptop surfaces. instead of wipe you should at the very least lock. you can also play sounds, and messages to the device, and if the officer hears that, its reasonable cause.
if you have the find my laptop on and it gives the location and you show that to the officer, that is reasonable cause for a search. without a warrant, they can knock and interrogate. its not like it hasn't been done before. if there's reason to suspect stolen property they can pursue the issue if they so choose.
The user password is mainly there so that it prevents unauthorised remote access to your computer. It is also there to give you administrator access to your system (e.g removing system components or installing new software in some cases, changing file system privileges, etc.)
The idea is that if you have physical access to your computer, you can get in very easily, but remote login is more difficult.
I personally prefer this, as I mainly use my desktop Macs - if I ever forget my password, or a technician needs to access my computer the password can be reset very easily.
On a laptop, an EFI password and FileVault is a reasonable precaution, as they can be stolen or lost more easily.
