In plain english

Prey wakes up at a specified interval and checks a URL to see if it should gather the traces and send the report. If the URL exists, Prey will simply go to sleep again. Basically, that%u2019s it.

However, there%u2019s two ways to run Prey: synchronized with the web control panel or in a standalone fashion.

1. Prey Control Panel

In this case, you manage your computer state and Prey%u2019s configuration through a web page, which also keeps track of all reports sent by Prey from your device. This is the method we recommend for most users, since you don%u2019t have to worry about the URL thingy and you can actually %u201Ctalk%u201D to Prey by triggering different behaviours.

2. Prey Standalone

In standalone mode, the report goes directly to your inbox but it%u2019s up to you to generate the URL to activate Prey. In this case you don%u2019t need to sign up in Prey but you%u2019ll have to set up the different modules by hand if you want to tune things up. This is actually the way Prey worked before version 0.3 was released.

Of course, Prey needs to have an active Internet connection to send the information. If the computer isn%u2019t connected, Prey will attempt to connect to the nearest open wifi access point available.

In Linux/Mac, Prey can (and should) be run as root so it doesn%u2019t depend on an active user session to run, but only on a successful boot.