Absolute, Intel, and Lenovo are bringing hardware-based anti-theft and computer theft deterrence technology for notebook computers to businesses. Select Lenovo ThinkPad 400 notebooks will be among the first notebooks to ship with support for Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection and Absolute's Computrace technology built in. The new optional services will be available beginning in December.
Select models of Lenovo ThinkPad T400 notebooks that offer Intel Centrino 2 Processor Technology with Intel vPro Technology will ship Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection “Ready,” needing only to be activated by companies' IT departments. Absolute Computrace and Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection working together provide the PC with intelligent mechanisms that detect potential theft situations and respond according to programmed IT policy. When field upgraded to activate Computrace1, a leading theft recovery, data deletion and mobile computer IT asset management solution, customers will be able to extend the benefit they receive from Absolute's managed security services, through the new hardware-based Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection.
For example, if a ThinkPad T400 notebook has not “checked in” within a specified time, Anti-Theft PC Protection working through Computrace would automatically lock the notebook, rendering it unusable. Additionally, an IT administrator can use Computrace and Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection technology to make a device inoperative when it is lost or stolen. The next time that computer "checks in" it will be automatically locked and rendered useless to an unauthorised user. Additionally, Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection offers the ability to lock a computer if it experiences more than a prescribed number of password attempts. The IT department can unlock the computer when it is back in the hands of an authorised user.
“Absolute is excited to work with industry leaders to further drive anti-theft technologies into the marketplace - ensuring that joint Absolute, Intel, and Lenovo customers have the most secure computing experience possible,” said John Livingston, CEO of Absolute Software.
This is another technology first with ThinkPad notebooks for Absolute, as Computrace was first available in the BIOS of ThinkPad T43 notebooks as early as 2005, enabling the unique self-healing aspect of Computrace that ensures it cannot be removed from a computer, even after a reformat or hard drive replacement. Lenovo continues its global leadership in providing IT security innovations for its ThinkPad notebook PCs with this capability. The solution complements other computer industry security innovations from Lenovo, including the first notebook PC with an embedded security chip and the first notebook PC with a built-in biometric fingerprint reader combined with hard drive encryption.
“By combining Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection with Computrace support, we are giving our customers the latest technologies in notebook PC security,” said Bob Galush, vice-president, software and peripherals marketing, Lenovo. “By integrating both these technologies with the engineering heritage of ThinkPad notebooks, customers can be confident their business information is protected by the most advanced levels of security available.”
In addition, Intel vPro Technology enhances existing Absolute solutions by enabling remote management that offers an additional degree of tamper-resistance for Absolute customers. Intel vPro Technology enables IT professionals under most conditions to remotely perform security and management tasks on a PC even if the computer is powered off, has an inoperative BIOS or hard drive or is outside the corporate firewall.
“This collaboration with Lenovo and Absolute helps solve one of the biggest problems facing businesses today - the lost notebook containing sensitive, confidential files,” said George Thangadurai, director, Strategic Planning and general manager, Anti-Theft Programme, Intel Mobile Platforms Group. “This fusion of technologies in the Lenovo ThinkPad T400 notebook establishes a new level of security for today's mobile workforce.”
Availability
Computrace with Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection support will be available in supported regions on select ThinkPad 400 notebooks through http://www.lenovo.com and its business partners beginning in December.
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