An individual laptop theft can be more than a terrible inconvenience — it can damage an organization’s competitiveness and the trust of its customers. And that’s just one theft. At a macro level, PC theft statistics are even scarier.
A study by the Ponemon Institute showed that 71% of lost or stolen laptops result in a data breach. Laptop theft was attributed to 59% of computer attacks in government agencies, corporations, and universities during 2003, according to the Baseline 2004 study. And the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse states that since 2005, more than 150 million personal records have been exposed due to PC theft.
Fortunately, today’s PC and data thieves face decreasing demand for their wares. The reason: more and more stolen PCs lead authorities right to thieves’ doors, thanks to security innovations from Lenovo, Intel, and Absolute Software. These technology leaders have assembled a formidable array of anti-theft solutions that make it almost impossible to use or sell a Lenovo notebook if lost or stolen.
Intel AT features several unique ways to detect potential loss/theft situations, activate “theft mode,” and respond according toa customized IT policy, including:
Excessive Login Attempts: The system is disabled after an IT-determined number of login failures.
“Phone Home” and Central Server Notifications: Notebooks flagged as lost or stolen by IT will phone home the next time the thief connects to the Internet. Intel AT then receives the stolen notebook server notification and disables the notebook. The Computrace agent can also remotely delete data to shred sensitive files.
“Phone Home” Timers: Programmable timers perform regular check-ins with the theft-management server within IT-defined time periods. Anti-theft protective actions can then be taken if the regular check-ins do not occur successfully.
The Computrace solution, enhanced by Intel AT, operates unobtrusively and without employee knowledge or inconvenience. Without employee action, it conducts functions such as:
Emergency Remote Data Deletion
Deleting data at the file or whole disc level.
Lifecycle Data Delete
Wiping computers clean before retirement or reissue.
Forensics
Identifying accessed files after a PC is stolen or recovered.
When a Lenovo notebook is reported lost or stolen, Computrace and Intel tracking technology continue to play a key role.If desired, Absolute recovery services law enforcement experts will investigate a theft, recover the device(s), and collaborate with authorities to bring the thieves to justice.
With these options, customers may choose to track a stolen Lenovo notebook and attempt recovery, or use the Intel AT disable capability to deactivate a notebook immediately after it is stolen or goes beyond its reporting parameters.
Intel AT hardware-based detection mechanisms will even work without a network connection, and can also integrate with existing encryption solutions’ preboot authentication module.
The Intel/Computrace solution offers a range of anti-theft capabilities for each customer’s unique needs. These anti-theft features can also be used to manage, record and analyze the movements, locations, network access history, and software on each computer. And anti-theft measures can be undone without harming a recovered PC.
To help prevent future problems, Computrace and Intel AT also identify security “holes” to be addressed through hardware, software, or personnel training.
With embedded Computrace software, Lenovo has the only notebooks that can fully activate the Intel AT system againstPC thieves and data snatchers. Call it an all-in-one crime fighter, and only Lenovo has it.
View overview videos on Intel anti-theft technology at www.intel.com/technology/anti-theft.