ZDima.net

Firefox: The worst thing about losing your laptop isn't the cost of replacing your gear; it's the loss of personal info and saved passwords. Firefox extension FireFound tracks your lost laptop's location and nukes your personal data in a few clicks.

Once you install the add-on for Firefox or its mobile version Fennec, FireFound uses geolocation to track where you are every time you open your browser, sending that information to a secure server (or your own server, if you prefer.) If your laptop is ever lost or stolen, log into FireFound's web site from any computer and find out where your laptop's being used—handy information to pass on to the cops, though not necessarily info that'll get your laptop back. You can also choose to nuke the personal data in your browser, including history and saved passwords, to protect if from prying eyes until you get your computer back.

FireFound lets you tweak several settings according to what level of security you desire, including the option to receive email notifications if your computer is used more than a certain number of miles from its last location. The data protection feature instantly annihilates some or all of the personal information contained in your browser if someone can't provide a password to use it.

We've seen a fair amount of similar tools for Windows users on a whole in the past (see our laptop thief-proofing guide for more details), but FireFound is the first Firefox-specific version we've seen, and it's got some solid features of its own.

Keep in mind that none of these tools are guaranteed to keep your data safe or recover your hardware, and remember that your best bet to safeguarding your data is encrypting your data. What other steps do you take to protect your laptop's data besides securing your browser? Talk about it in the comments.

Ed. note: Incidentally, FireFound also just won the Extend Firefox contest, for which both Gina and Adam served as judges.