NSK Inc IT Associate Recovers Stolen iPad With Help of MBTA Transit Police

March 9, 2011 - PRLog -- Boston, MA – It was a normal morning for Michael McGowan. An IT tech at NSK Inc, McGowan had just sat down at his desk when he received a phone call from one of his clients. The client was calling to report that his iPad® was stolen. While waiting for the Red Line of the MBTA, he was typing an e-mail on his iPad. In the middle of composing the e-mail, someone grabbed the iPad right out of his hands and took off.

McGowan immediately opened a web browser and logged onto the MobileMeSM website to search for the stolen iPad. Although MobileMe is a subscription based service that lets Mac users sync their accounts across multiple devices; all new iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch’s have a “Find My Device” feature that is available for free. When a user first gets their device, they can log onto Mobile Me using their Apple ID (which most people have to access iTunes®) and set it up so that if their device goes missing, they can track it.

McGowan, having set up the iPad, knew that by logging into MobileMe he could lock it, track it via GPS, and even wipe the data remotely if the device was lost or stolen. While logging in to the Mobile Me account, McGowan called the MBTA Transit Police to report the theft.

After getting transferred to dispatch, the authorities asked McGowan for the MEID number of the device. The MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) is sort of like a serial number for electronic devices. With most mobile devices, the number is usually located either behind the battery of the device, or on the back panel. However, due to the iPad’s seamless design, you have to turn on the device and check the configuration settings to retrieve the number.

Because McGowan had locked the device, there was no way for the police to access the MEID number. Instead, he mentioned to the police that he had GPS tracking enabled on the device and that the iPad was somewhere near the Park Street stop and Downtown Crossing. McGowan rationalized that the thief was most likely going to try to sell the iPad at an electronics exchange store in the area. The police then sent a couple of officers to the scene.

While on the MobileMe site, a user can send a message to the device or have it make sounds to signify its location. Once the officers were in the area, McGowan enabled the iPad’s location alert. The alarm wasn’t loud enough to draw the attention of the officers, but it did make the perpetrator pull the device out of his backpack, which the officers then witnessed and swiftly moved in to retrieve the device.

To prove that the iPad was in fact the stolen property of his client, McGowan sent a message to the device that said “This iPad is stolen property.” The officers felt this was sufficient enough evidence and they made sure to get the iPad safely back to its owner.

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, App Store, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and iTunes are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About Apple
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

About NSK Inc
NSK Inc is an information technology consulting and outsourcing firm, specializing in small and medium businesses. Headquartered in Boston, MA, NSK offers an array of IT services including managed monitoring and maintenance, Cloud Computing technologies, and security audits and assessments. NSK Inc is a certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) recognized by the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) and is continually rated in the Boston Business Journal’s “Best Of” lists as well as the Inc. 500/5000. For more information, please visit http://www.nskinc.com.

Press Contact
For more information, please contact:

Cathie Briggette
NSK Inc
(p) +1 617 303-0480
(e) cathie@nskinc.com
(w) http://www.nskinc.com