May 5 , 2006 - Lost Laptop Trouble? Take Action!

In talks with corporate security executives, one top problem is the fear that employees could lose a company laptop computer or have it stolen – with sensitive or privacy-protected data inside. There are lockdown devices from firms such as Secure-It; but more recently Zalud's Blog has received updates from firms marketing software that wipes a lost computer's memory or calls “home” to alert security to the laptop's location.

Computrace Data Protection from Absolute, for example, allows road warriors to track fixed, remote and mobile computer assets and remotely wipes sensitive data if the computer is lost, stolen or nearing the end of its lifecycle. The product can be centrally managed by IT or security and gives that staff the visibility to see up to 100 percent of their connected computer assets including the 40 percent of hard-to-locate assets that Gartner Group says are missed by conventional IT asset management tools. For more information, http://www.absolute.com

From SyNET, nTracker Anti-theft is aimed at tracking and recovery of lost or stolen laptops.  Whenever a machine equipped with nTracker connects to the Internet via a gateway not registered by the program, the software secretly e-mails its IP and network location to the owner.  There are no third-party monitoring centers or monthly subscription fees. 

Regardless of the type of Internet connection (phone modem, cable modem, DSL, ISDN, corporate LAN, etc.), this e-mail sneaks through. The nTracker is not found in Add/Remove Programs or Process Manager, nor do anti-virus or firewall programs detect it. When the e-mail with the IP location information is received, the lost or stolen property can be recovered with help from law enforcement agencies. More information, http://www.synet.biz/