theft

If you've been thinking about subscribing to Apple's MobileMe service just to get the peace of mind that comes with Find My iPhone, there's an alternative that's $84.02 cheaper.

It's called iHound, and it tracks lost and stolen iPhones.

This app's been around for some time, but like similar tracking tools, it suffered from one major shortcoming: it couldn't run in the background, and therefore couldn't transmit its location unless it was activated. (I don't know about you, but I rarely run my tracker app before I lose my iPhone.)

Now that iOS 4 has arrived, however, iHound can communicate automatically, at regular intervals, even when it's not running. And it does exactly that, sending location data to iHound's servers every few minutes. (Thankfully, there are other interval settings, including 10 minutes and 30 minutes.)

If your phone does go missing, you simply sign into the iHound site to see its last transmitted location on a map. You can also send a push notification with a custom message and even a spoken alert. (Example: "This...is...iHound!" That should get some attention.)

There's even an option to remotely activate a siren, which could help you find a misplaced phone--or startle a thief into ditching it. And the siren can be deactivated only from the site (though an iPhone-savvy thief could simply turn the volume down to zero).… Read more

Many IT folks think snooping is on the rise at their companies. They may know best since they're the ones doing some of the snooping, at least according to survey results released Wednesday by Cyber-Ark.

To put together its fourth annual "Trust, Security and Passwords" (PDF) survey, security vendor Cyber-Ark said it questioned more than 400 IT professionals across the U.S. and the U.K., mostly from enterprise-size businesses.

Among those surveyed, 67 percent admitted that they accessed confidential information not relevant to their jobs. In nominating the department most likely to snoop, 54 percent pointed … Read more

Authorities have finally begun examining the computers, server, and other electronic gear seized from a Gizmodo editor as part of the investigation into a missing iPhone prototype.

Stephen Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County, told CNET on Wednesday that a court there had appointed a "special master" to search the items seized from the home of Jason Chen in late April. The court has asked the special master to collect only information that pertains to Gizmodo's dealings with an iPhone prototype that the blog purchased for $5,000.

In March, an Apple employee lost … Read more

Because I still have a Facebook account, I really want to protect my personal information.

So I'm forced to be in a prostrate position while writing this, as you should be in reading it, for this news might trouble your equilibrium.

Do you remember those ads for LifeLock, the company that claims it will protect your personal information so carefully it'll be made useless to nefarious types? You know, the ads where the CEO displays his Social Security number to make his point? That's right--the ones where any random viewer looks at LifeLock's CEO and says: &… Read more

Upscale grocery conglomerate Whole Foods Market said Friday that it is continuing to clamp down on a series of Facebook-based scams that entice users with a purported $500 gift card from the Austin, Texas-based supermarket chain.

The scam has been spreading virally through Facebook via "fan pages" with names like "Whole Foods Market Free $500 Gift Card Limited - first 12,000 fans only" and "Whole Foods FREE $500 Gift Card! Only Available for 36 hours!" The fan page asks Facebook users to add it as a fan, thus pushing awareness of the page … Read more

What's remarkable about auto dealers is that they're not merely untrustworthy, but many of them are rather untrusting.

It seems that some sell their cars equipped with Web-based vehicle immobilization systems, just in case the buyer begins to falter on his or her payments.

Imagine the scene, then, in Austin, Texas, when cars suddenly wouldn't start or their horns would blare nonstop for hours. Did anyone imagine that a mass vehicle-immobilization attack was in progress? Probably not. More likely they imagined that some attendees of SXSW had found yet another way to prove to the world just … Read more

It's been proven of late that some on Wall Street are dishonest people who might not even think once about stealing whatever they can get their hands on.

However, this rampant disease of thieving seems to have spread to the corners of Madison Avenue. No, not to the sweet, confused coke-snorters of the advertising world (there aren't many of them left on Madison these days), but to bike thieves.

According to CBS2 New York, there was Austin Horse, a bike messenger, who had just hopped off his saddle to make a routine delivery to an address on Madison … Read more

The original rundown for today's episode of The 404 Podcast started with a bunch of stories about tech-related violence, but we decided to scrap all that for a more positive show. And we're also putting Wilson on a temporary story time-out for the next few days so this doesn't happen again.

Jeff is particularly excited about this first story, because it involves two of his close loves: video games and Playboy bunnies. This fall, Take Two Interactive is partnering with Playboy on Mafia II, a mature video game that lets you play as a gangster in the 1940s and '50s. The game is replete with vintage Playboy magazines and, of course, the centerfolds. Before you start writing your local government reps, keep in mind that the images are tastefully integrated into the game's nostalgia, which also includes vintage cars and firearms to invoke the 1940s zeitgeist. Additionally, the scenes in question are fairly tame compared with another Take Two game series, "Grand Theft Auto." Remember the Hot Coffee mod in GTA: San Andreas?

The 404 prides itself on keeping up to date on pop culture trends, but the newest fad among teenage girls is churning our stomachs. Across the country, the newest thing is to get intoxicated by an alternative form of ingestion. We'll spare you the details in this blog, because my physical demonstration in the video makes it so much easier to digest. This is why we're absolutely terrified of having kids.

Now that spring has finally decided to visit New York, it's time for backyard BBQs, rooftop parties, and bikes rides! New York certainly isn't the easiest city to navigate on a bicycle, but Google Maps is now offering a cycling navigation feature to guide you along your way.

The directions route you through to your destination by cross-referencing the least busiest streets with the ones that have clearly defined bike lanes, getting you there faster and, most importantly, in one piece. Once you get to your destination, however, be sure to do everything you can to minimize the chance of theft.

In perhaps its first practical application, local New York bike messenger Austin Horse successfully recovered his stolen bike using Twitter. After someone snatched his bike, Horse immediately notified his followers to keep a lookout (not too difficult a task, as the frame is bright orange) and posted the same to a local message board. In less than 24 hours, someone recovered his vehicle in the Lower East Side and it's now back with its rightful owner--great news!

Keep sending us voice mails to 1-866-404-CNET because you know we love to hear how you're doing, and don't forget to send in your 404 sticker pictures to the404(at)cnet[dot]com. High quality shots have a good chance of making it to a blog post, like the one you see up there from our buddy Derrick Chen. Natali Del Conte on the show tomorrow, so be sure to catch us live at 11 a.m. EST/8 a.m. PST on CNET TV.