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Lock your laptops
Laptop users try a variety of methods to prevent theft 06/20/2002
There were times when W. David Lee couldn't get much attention when he
pitched ideas for "laptop security."
No more.
From the corporate boardroom to the lowliest telecommuter, notebook
computer users are learning that theft of their portables – and, more
important, the data on their hard drives – can be devastating.
"Unfortunately, people are usually driven to it by an experience," says
the CEO of Caveo Technology, maker of an innovative PC-card-based
anti-theft mechanism.
And, boy, are the experiences mounting up. In recent years:
• An IBM Thinkpad owned by Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs disappeared from a
stage where he was speaking. What was on it? "Everything," he told
reporters. Financial statements, secret corporate data, years of e-mail,
digitized pictures of his grandchildren – all of it irreplaceable.
• A U.K. Ministry of Defense laptop with sensitive fighter pilot
research was stolen from the luggage rack of a London Heathrow-bound
train.
• The notebook used for highly classified information about arms
proliferation vanished from a conference room in the U.S. State
Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Those high-profile cases belie a broader criminal trend. Safeware, an
insurance firm that sells laptop theft insurance policies, estimates
that 591,000 notebooks were stolen last year, a 53 percent increase over
2000. According to the 2002 Computer Security Institute/FBI Computer
Crime and Security Survey, the theft of laptops led to an average
financial loss of $89,000 among responding corporations and government
agencies.
This year the problem may be getting worse, exacerbated by tightened
airport security measures put in place after Sept. 11, experts say. As
travelers are being asked to pull laptops from bags at checkpoints, many
computers are being lost, forgotten or stolen on the other side of the
confusion caused by intensified searches.
In response, software and hardware safety accessory makers are churning
out products designed to protect laptops used for work and leisure. They
include fingerprint identifiers, motion detectors, lock-and-cable
mechanisms, data-scrambling techniques and software that stealthily
"calls home" when connected to the Net.
Clamping down
Leading manufacturers include Anchor Pad International
(www.anchorpad.com), Kensington
(www.kensington.com), Computer Security Products
(www.computersecurity.com), PC Guardian
(www.pcguardian.com), Kryptonite
(www.kryptonitelock.com) and Targus Group International
(www.targus.com).
Cable locks are increasingly showing up as standard equipment at
conference centers and conventions where laptops play important roles
for participants.
Motion detection
For example, Targus makes a $50 version of its Defcon alarm system that
attaches to the computer via the security slot and also comes with a
cable for physical locking. Another version is integrated into a
carrying case ($130). Arming and disarming is done by entering a
combination or via remote control.
The $59.95 TrackIt
(www.trackitcorp.com) uses a transmitter installed in or attached to
a laptop case to maintain a continuous radio signal with a mobile sensor
carried by the owner. If the laptop is moved beyond a set distance, an
alarm sounds and the mobile unit is alerted.
Kensington's SonicLock ($39.95) lets out a squeal when its padlock and
shackle are disturbed.
And Mr. Lee's company, Caveo
(www.caveo.com), has just released the $99 Anti-Theft PC Card,
which combines motion detection, data encryption and password
protection. Not only does it sound an alarm when someone is walking off
with a notebook, it will also immediately lock down the operating system
to prevent data loss.
Biometrics
Targus also makes the $199.99 Defcon PC Card Fingerprint Authenticator,
which is mounted in a laptop's PC card slot and features a retractable
thumbprint pad.
Software safeguards
Leading products include Computrace
(www.computrace.com), Secure PC by Lucira Technologies
(www.lucira.com), Stealth Signal
(www.stealthsignal.com) and Cyber Angel from Computer Sentry Software
(www.sentryinc.com).
Hidden files on the purloined portable turn off the modem sound and
periodically dial into a security monitoring service run by the software
companies. Using the data and help from police, recovery rates are as
high as 90 percent, manufacturers say.
These products, however, require help from police jurisdictions with
widely disparate policies and procedures. In areas where police give low
priority to laptop recovery, it may be hard to persuade officials to act
on the software's information, experts say.
The annual cost of monitoring a single computer ranges from about $50 to
$60.
As Internet connectivity has grown, so have the features of these
software packages. Several will now encrypt data and lock down access in
addition to locating a stolen laptop by telephone number and Internet
address.
E-mail dbedell@dallasnews.com
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