[LINK] Dell etc theft protection

Danny Yee danny at anatomy.usyd.edu.au
Wed Jul 2 15:05:28 AEST 2008


What's to stop Dell using this service without the owner's consent,
at the request of law enforcement (or the movie industry)?
What procedures are going to be in place to stop accidental or
malicious activation?

This seems vastly less useful and more problematic than simple disk
encryption.

Danny.
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> IN THE NEWS: DELL TO OFFER LAP-TOP PROTECTION
> 
> DALLAS (AP) - Dell is joining a long list of other computer makers in 
> offering a service designed to track lost or stolen laptops and delete 
> sensitive data. Dell plans to use technology that is embedded in the 
> computer and can remotely erase files, such as financial records or 
> Internet cookies. Dell officials say the file-deletion process would be 
> triggered the first time a lost or stolen machine is connected to the 
> Internet. The finder of the machine would not know that the deletion is 
> occurring. Officials say Dell will charge business customers less than 
> $100 per machine for three years of the service




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