Intel pushes laptop tracking

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 11 Dec 2008 at 09:11

Intel and Ericsson are teaming up to fit laptops with remote kill switches and GPS tracking devices.

Lenovo already offers a "Lockdown PC Now" feature, which allows victims of laptop theft to remotely disable their machine. However, Ericsson is now adding the satisfaction of being able to to track the stolen machine through GPS by making its Mobile Broadband Modules compatible with Intel's Anti-Theft technology.

The companies envisage the feature coming in handy if you've simply left your laptop in the office and forgotten about it after a night down the pub.

As with Lenovo's effort, sending a text machine will lock down the machine by blocking the boot process, with an unlock code bringing it back to life again.

"The need for taking the profit out of stealing laptops and protecting sensitive and important information continues to grow with the increased popularity of mobile broadband notebooks," the companies say in a joint statement.

"Theft or loss of notebooks can have enormous financial consequences for both consumers and enterprise users, especially when sensitive data on the notebook is lost or obtained by unauthorised persons."

The companies say the first laptops fitted with the technology could start appearing in the middle of 2009.