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Professional Ed. Settings : Alarm options Reference

the Alarm options

Alarm

When PREDATOR has locked your session, if somebody types some key(s) on your keyboard, or moves the mouse, PREDATOR displays the password dialog with a countdown.
If this person enters invalid passwords, or if the password dialog times out, PREDATOR triggers an alarm.

Keyboard sensitivity

This parameter defines the keyboard activity by which PREDATOR will display the password dialog.
There are 4 possible values in this dropdown list:
  • Low: show the password dialog if at least 5 keys are pressed rapidly
  • Medium: show the password dialog if at least 3 keys are pressed rapidly
  • High: show the password dialog as soon as a key is pressed
  • Disabled: ignore keystrokes

Mouse sensitivity

This parameter defines the mouse activity by which PREDATOR will display the password dialog.
There are 4 possible values in this dropdown list:
  • Low: show the password dialog if the mouse is moved by several inches
  • Medium: show the password dialog if the mouse is moved by about 1 inch
  • High: show the password dialog if the mouse is moved by a very short distance
  • Disabled: ignore mouse motion. If you have also disabled the keyboard then PREDATOR will never show the password dialog, and won't trigger any alarm: you won't be notified if somebody tries to access your computer. You won't be able to unlock your session with a password either, so think twice before disabling this feature.

Password countdown

Set the countdown duration (in seconds) for entering the password. If you do not enter the correct password before it reaches zero, an alarm will set off.

Password trials

Set how many invalid passwords may be entered before setting off an alarm.

Play sound file

Select the audio file (*.wav file) which will be played in case of alarm.

Beep system speaker

If you do not select any audio file, you may check this box to produce a series of beeps in case of alarm. Note that if this box is checked, a series of short beeps will also be emitted during the last 10 seconds of the countdown displayed by the password input dialog.

Count

Tell how many times you want to play the audio file, or how many beeps you want to produce on the system speaker in case of alarm. If you select 0 (zero) then no sound will be produced during the alarm.

Picture file

Select the picture (*.jpg or *.png file) which will be displayed while your desktop is locked. If you leave this input field blank, PREDATOR will mask your destop with a black screen.

Picture layout

Select the way PREDATOR will display the picture, choices are the same as when setting the desktop wallpaper.

Access Denied Screen

If this option is checked then if there is an intrusion attempt, PREDATOR displays an "Access Denied" flashing screen to make the intrusion conspicuous.

Commands

PREDATOR can run custom commands when events are triggered in response to specific actions and states. For example, if somebody plays with your keyboard when your computer is locked, PREDATOR displays the Password Dialog and triggers the "Password" event. You can handle this event with your own command to take any additional action, like taking a picture with a webcam or sending email.

Several step-by-step configuration procedures are available in the HOWTOs section of the Documentation.

Event

PREDATOR supports the following events:
  • Password : triggered when PREDATOR displays the Password Dialog. Useful to take a picture of the person who tries to use your computer.
  • Alarm : triggered when the alarm conditions (as defined above) are met. Useful to take custom security measures, for example: send mail, shutdown the computer, etc.
  • Monitoring is on : triggered when PREDATOR starts monitoring your PC, either because you just started PREDATOR or because you resumed monitoring with the menu.
  • Monitoring is off : triggered when PREDATOR stops monitoring your PC, either because you paused monitoring with the menu, or because you unlocked your computer with the Password Dialog.
  • Locked by key : triggered when PREDATOR locks your desktop after detecting that your usb flash drive is not connected.
  • Locked by schedule : triggered when the system time reaches the end of a scheduled period.
  • Unlocked : triggered when PREDATOR unlocks your desktop, either because you plugged in your usb flash drive, or because you entered the correct password, or the system time reaches the beginning of a scheduled period.
  • Startup : triggered when PREDATOR starts.
  • Exit : triggered when PREDATOR stops, either because you selected Exit from the menu, or because you shutdown Windows. In the later case, your command may not have the time to complete before system shutdown.

Select the desired event in the drop-down list, then set the corresponding action below.

Action

You can associate a primary action to each event. PREDATOR will execute it each time this event is triggered.
In most cases you'll keep the preconfigured "default" action, because usually there is no need to change it.
  • Default : execute the default action defined by the program.
  • Lock : lock the desktop.
  • Unlock : unlock the desktop.
  • Shutdown : shutdown the PC. You may associate this action to the "Locked by schedule" event if you want to automatically turn off the PC at a given time.
  • Restart : close all sessions and restart Windows.
  • Hibernate : suspend Windows and enter hibernation.
  • Logoff : close the current session.
  • Custom command : do not run any primary action, but execute the secondary action defined below.

Warning: Think twice before changing the primary action, otherwise you may end up by locking your computer.
For example, DO NOT associate the "Lock" action to the "Unlocked" event !

Custom commands

Custom action

In addition to the action defined above, you can define a secondary action. There are 4 predefined secondary actions: taking a picture with the webcam, sending an email, sending an email with the attached picture, uploading the picture to a FTP server. In case none of these 4 options suits your needs, you can run your own program with the "Command line" action.
  • Nothing : Do not perform any secondary action.
  • Command line : Run the program defined in the "Command line" input field below.
  • Email : Send an email to the address defined in the Network options.
  • Snapshot : Take a picture with the webcam configured in the Advanced options.
  • Email snapshot : Take a picture with the webcam and email it to the address defined in the Network options.
  • Ftp snapshot : Take a picture with the webcam and upload it to the FTP server defined in the Network options.

Command line

This input field is enabled only if you have selected the "Command line" custom action above.
Enter the path of the program to be started when the event selected in the "Event" drop-down list is triggered. You can use the filesystem browser button on the right to find its exact location.
If the path contains blank characters (like in "C:\Program Files\..." then it should be surrounded by double-quotes. You can use any executable file, including .exe and .bat.
If your program takes additional parameters, type them after the path, for example: "C:\Program Files\SMSMessenger\sendsms.exe" -recipient 1 -text "PREDATOR alarm"

Windows style

The program defined in the "Command line" textbox will run in its own window, and you can select its appearance here.
  • Normal : program will be running in an ordinary window. If it is triggered while PREDATOR has locked your desktop, your program may not be visible, depending on the "Screen darkness" settings (see Main options).
  • Maximized : program will run in a full screen window
  • Minimized : program will run in a taskbar button
  • Hidden : program will be invisible. Before selecting this style, check that your program works fine in a normal window, or you won't be able to see the error messages it may issue.

Run command

PREDATOR will start your program in a window having the selected style when you click this button. Use it to verify that your command line is correct.
Warning: if you have made changes in the Advanced or Network options tab you must close and reopen the Preferences form to commit them before trying to run commands.

Schedule

PREDATOR has a built-in weekly scheduler where you can define your working hours. Out of these hours, even if the USB flash drive is inserted, PREDATOR will trigger "Locked by schedule" events and take the appropriate action, as explained above. The next two settings control the behaviour of the scheduler.

Enabled

Check this checkbox to enable the scheduler. You'll configure the working hours in the scheduler window. If you need to work later than usual, uncheck this option to disable the scheduler.

Delay

When you start PREDATOR out of the scheduled working hours, it will wait the number of seconds defined in this field before issuing a "Locked by schedule" event and locking your desktop. This will give you a grace delay to quickly open the Preferences and disable the scheduler. The default delay is 60 seconds, however you may set a larger delay if your PC takes longer to open your session otherwise you won't have enough time to open the Preferences window.

Log

Enable local log

This box should be normally checked. Uncheck it if you want to completely disable logging.

Open log after alarm

Check this option if you want PREDATOR to automatically show the application's Log if an alarm has been triggered.