How to proctect self following theft. Thanks for advice.

[wackymacky]

Well, some s*** stole my iMac and my time-capsule that was acting as a back up drive. They didn't take the install disks.


I would appreciate some advice.

The Mac was set so a password was required to boot up.

Is the data safe on the Mac (and password in the keychain)? I suppose the average thief would not know how to reset the password, esp without install disks?

What about the data in the sparse-bundle file on the Time Capsule? Can they just browse though this without knowing the Mac's or the Time Capsule admin password?

How much free flowing air do the latest model Time Capsules require? I was thinking about bolting the replacement (the insurance will provide) inside a cupboard.

Oh, and what can I do about all the music I bought from iTunes, to prevent loosing it all when I next sync my iPhone?

 

[calderone]

Sorry to hear about that. To answer your questions and offer some advice.

Advice:
1. If you know the serial numbers, report them to Apple as stolen
2. Check your local craigslist, check eBay NZ and any other sales forum for your iMac

Your questions:
With the firmware password set, it is worthless until the thief gets some install DVDs.

1. Unless the thief can guess your password your keychain data is safe data if the password is reset. The keychain must be unlocked with the old password.

2. As far as the time machine backups, without the password, they should not be able to view your data. I don't have a Time Capsule, but I do TM backups to my server, I would imagine that to mount the share you would need a password as well. Even if it is in the keychain, they would not be able to use it if they reset your password.

3. I would imagine that as long as the signal can pass through the material (wood for example) it should be fine.

4. For your music, I would look into an app like http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/

Hope that helps. And while insurance will take care of it, I hope you make some effort to bring the scumbag to justice.

 

[R94N]

I am sorry to hear that someone stole your Mac

I would think that the thief wouldn't know how to get into your Mac or Time Machine files - they probably aren't that much of a computer whizz.


I hope you can recover it