Wipe laptops by SMS, offers Lenovo

How to kill a lost PC.

By Agam Shah, IDG News Service
Published: 11:10 GMT, 25 November 08

If a laptop is lost, now there is a new way to remotely shut it down - just text it.

Lenovo will announce the Constant Secure Remote Disable service, allowing users to remotely disable a PC by sending a text message. Users also receive a confirmation text message that validates the disabling of a PC.

"You steal my PC and ... if I can deliver a signal to that PC that turns it off, hey, I'm good now," said Stacy Cannady, product manager of security at Lenovo.

A user can send a text message - also called the kill command - from a specified cell phone number to kill a PC. Each ThinkPad can be paired with up to 10 cell phones, and the service works over wireless networks that support the SMS standard.

A lost or stolen laptop must have a working cellular data card and a paid data plan with a carrier for the remote disable service to work, Cannady said.

The system is targeted at consumers who are worried about their laptops getting stolen. For business users it enforces compliance issues, as users get a receipt back and ensure their laptop is safe.

To reactivate the disabled PC, a user needs to enter the pre-set passcode after the notebook is restarted, Cannady said. The laptop software works with the carrier-based software to disable the computer.

The software will be available free from Lenovo's Web site. It will also be available on certain ThinkPad notebooks equipped with mobile broadband starting in the first half of 2009.

Lenovo worked with Phoenix Technologies to develop the service.

What are your views on this subject? Use the form below to post a comment on this article up to 500 characters.

Characters remaining: 500

Add your commentComments

Mark | Published: 14:48 GMT, 25 November 2008

you need a paid data plan. Sounds like another way to get money out of the users.

Related Security news

Microsoft denies building security 'backdoor' in Windows 7

Privacy organisations shouldn't read too much into NSA involvement it says

20 November 2009

Pentagon expands exclusive deal with McAfee

Department of Defense uses McAfee products

Police arrest pair over global banking web scam

Man and woman arrested in Manchester for using notorious Zeus Trojan

Security star Fortinet sets price for IPO

Investors still have taste for tech.

Related Security reviews

Lumension application control review

Bit9 Parity Suite

BitDefender Total Security 2008

Email this article to a friend or colleague:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story, and in case of transmission error. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.

Techworld White Papers

Database security: Preventing enterprise data leaks at the source

IDC discusses the growing internal threats to business information, the impact of government regulations on the protection of data, and how enterprises must adopt database security best practices...

Download Whitepaper

Service-oriented security

SOA has become an integral part of enterprise software by providing a framework to efficiently develop software as services that is easily sharable, reusable, and integrated. No where is the need more apparent than in the Identity Management space. Welcome to the age of Service-Oriented Security (SOS).

Download Whitepaper

Data protection prospective vendor checklist

Organisations need a way to map business needs against all these challenges in procuring a technical solution. To help, SANS has developed the following Prospective Vendor Checklist.

Download Whitepaper

Unlock the power of the mainframe

This whitepaper presents the notion of CICS as an integration hub based on a component-based, service-oriented architecture supporting Web services. Highlights will review the challenges and contrasted support for Web services natively in CICS.

Download Whitepaper

Techworld UK - Technology - Business

COLT White Paper

Are all VoIP services the same?

Questions to ask your service provider to ensure you get the VoIP service you need
With careful choice of partner, your business can have all the advantages of VoIP access - reduced costs, flexibility and simplicity - without the drawbacks.
This white paper is your guide to ensure you get right the VoIP service and details the pitfalls which businesses would do well to avoid.

Download white paper
BMC

Ride the express lane in the journey to speed ITIL adoption

Explore the challenges in making the journey to ITIL and the criteria for selecting consulting services
By following ITIL practices, your IT organisation will become more closely integrated with the business. We recommend making the journey to ITIL in a sequence of six incremental steps, the phases of which are driven through execution of a strategic transformational roadmap.

Download white paper

Webcast: IT Financial Management: Cost Optimisation for Efficiency and Agility.
On Demand Webcast
Join this webcast to learn about the techniques and technologies that can help you prove the value of IT to the business by understanding the true cost of today's IT services and those that will be necessary to deliver future success.

Register Today

Site Map

IDG Network

* *