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Phoenix Unveils Anti-Theft BIOS
linuxwrangler writes "According to articles at PC World, c|net, Internet Week and elsewhere, Phoenix Technology is introducing a new BIOS-based anti-theft system. Every time a TheftGuard equipped machine connects to the internet it pings a server at Phoenix which can instruct the machine to wipe its hard drive, report its location or disable itself. Given that most people don't want to have their every movement tracked and don't want someone else to have the power to wipe their drives, Phoenix figures that corporate clients are the prime customer. I just wonder who is liable when a company sells a surplus laptop on eBay but gets their inventory control screwed up and reports it as stolen..."
Why do you view the BIOS as being able to do nothing without the host os?
If the BIOS pings a server using the onboard nic before it tries to bootstrap to a drive, it would be very difficult to disable this...
In my organization, we have been using Computrace which serves the same function. The software installs into the computer's boot sector and is nearly invisible if you don't know to look for it. It contacts the Computrace NOC frequently over IP or modem and reports it's IP address (or caller ID). We now have a pretty nice log of where all our laptops go. The software isn't capable to destroying or disbling the PC, but it's invisibility and reporting features are enough to make it useful.
Computrace reports having retrieved a number of stolen computers based on the data reported by the software. It's definitely useful for any corporate IT department!
It always amazes me when some student at my campus steals a lab computer and doesn't think that our DHCP server will let us know the next time it gets plugged back in to our network. Over half our stolen computers get recovered that way. Just last night, one was stolen (end of the academic year is always bad for theft) and the kid decides to plug it in in his room. He really should have waited 5 more days to use it and he would have graduated on time. Now he is facing expulsion. Idiots!