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Another Stab at Laptop Security
kogus writes "LoJack is licensing its brand name to Absolute Software, which provides Computrace -- soon to be known as the 'LoJack for Laptops' line of computer theft recovery systems. When a stolen Computrace-equipped system is connected to the Internet, it automatically and silently sends locating data to Absolute Software, which then calls out the law. In some cases, Absolute Software customers are eligible for a $1,000 guarantee payment when a stolen system is not recovered within 60 days.
It's not just stolen laptops that send information to their servers. Any laptop with this software installed sends periodic heartbeats to the computrace people.
Our PHB ordered it installed after getting a call from a golf buddy. It was ripped out a week later. The heartbeats contain enough [cleartext] information that the increased chance of the laptop being broken into, or the salesguy socially engineered using the info was deemed higher than the chance it'd ever be stolen.
It is outright bullshit!
We had a laptop stolen and called it in.
"Oh, you need to file a police report"
Fine, so we get the numbnuts who lost it to file the report and give us the report number.
"Okay, yes... we have recieved a call home from the laptop, and we know where it is!"
Great! Now when do we get it back?
"Wellll, you cant..."
and it just got worse from there. The police wouldn't retrieve the laptop, and these clowns wouldn't tell us where the machine was. But at least we knew:
- it was in fact stolen and not in the hands of the numbnuts employee
- it was in fact connected to the internet, being used, right then
- we couldn't get it back
- someone was at least enjoying their brand new laptop...
damnnit! This shit just annoys me. I'm going home.