Locating stolen computers

Because BOINC reports back to project servers automatically it may be possible to use BOINC to help you recover a stolen computer. If a computer running BOINC is stolen:

• Go to the web sites of your attached projects, and click on Your Account > View Computers.
• Check the 'Last contact time' of the stolen computer; wait until the last contact time is after the time of the theft.
• Click on the computer ID, and click on Show IP Address

This will show you the IP address from which your computer last connected. If you supply this information to police, it may help them locate the computer.

Mapping IP address to ISP

You can perform a "WHOIS" query to know which ISP owns the rights to assign an IP. Depending on the continent, you can perfom the query from one of the following websites:

• Europe: http://www.ripe.net/db/index.html (just copy the IP number displayed on the participant account in the "RIPE DATABASE SEARCH" textbox and click the "Go" button)

• North America: http://www.arin.net/ (copy the IP number displayed on the participant account in the textbox above the "WHOIS" button)

• Latin America and Caribbean: http://www.lacnic.net/en/ (more of the same)

• Asia: http://www.apnic.net/

• Australia / NZ / Pacific Islands: http://www.apnic.net/ but use http://www.arin.net/ for US possessions and Territories

• Africa: http://www.afrinic.net/

Tracing the route

In addition to looking up the ISP, you can use the command line traceroute utility to learn more about the location of a computer based on the IP address. For example:

This shows the route leads from the computer where traceroute was issued to UC Berkeley, but no information about the route inside the Berkeley network.