For those functions, Absolute offers Computrace for enterprise customers (including schools) and LoJack for Laptops for consumers. The blog Stryde Hax has more detail about Perbix's reported activities.Ībsolute has changed the name of the program to Absolute Manager and will be marketing it for remote management of PCs, Macs, and iPhones, but the product will no longer be used for theft or loss recovery.

In one portion of the Webcast (not in the YouTube video), Perbix says, 'You can go into curtain mode, so if you're controlling someone's machine and you don't want them to see what you're doing you just click on the curtain mode icon.you can take a snapshot of the screen by clicking on the little camera icon.' Scroll down to the end of this post to listen to a 28-second audio excerpt from the Webcast, in which Perbix talks about 'curtain mode.' In a YouTube video attributed to Perbix, he says, 'I've actually had some laptops we thought were stolen which actually were still in a classroom because they were misplaced, and by the time we found out that they were back I had to turn the tracking off and I had a good 20 snapshots of the teacher and the students using the machines in the classroom.' The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Mike Perbix, a network technician from the district, had recorded a Webcast where he talked about his use of LANRev. An Absolute Software spokesman verified that it is also his understanding that the school used LANRev software. The product was published by Pole Position Software, which was acquired last year by Vancouver, B.C.-based Absolute Software. The answer is yes, though the newest version of the software used by the district to monitor its computers can no longer be used to activate Webcams or even track stolen computers.Īccording to Harriton High School student Phil Hayes, officials at the Lower Merion School District used a program called LANRev to manage and track the Macintosh laptops issued to students. The school district admitted to activating the Webcams 42 times during a 14-month period, claiming that it did so only to track lost or stolen laptops.īut for anyone with a Webcam (and Webcams are now built in to many laptops and desktops), the question is whether you are vulnerable to having your Webcam remotely turned on. The Webcam spy case in the Lower Merion School District near Philadelphia has raised concern as to whether others with Webcams are vulnerable to remote spying.

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