Lenovo technology to lock out stolen notebooks

Lenovo announced a new technology to lock out thieves from ThinkPad notebook PCs. The Lenovo Constant Secure Remote Disable feature was designed in collaboration with Phoenix technologies and lets users send a text message via a cell phone to render their system useless to unauthorized users when the notebook is lost of stolen. When the notebook is recovered, a user can reactivate the system by entering his or her pre-set passcode during bootup. Lenovo will offer the feature for free in Q1 2009 on select ThinkPad notebooks that are enabled for mobile broadband.

According to the 2008 CSI Computer Crime and Security Survey, 42 percent of computer attacks and incidents among U.S. organizations in both private and public sectors occurred as a result of notebook PC theft. Lenovo’s new Remote Disable dramatically enhances the security of a lost or stolen ThinkPad notebook PC by speeding up the time it takes to lock the PC, helping to prevent unauthorized access to the computer’s data.

To activate Remote Disable, users create a simple text message command such as “lockdown now PC” or “PC shut off” that can be used if a notebook PC is lost or stolen. A user sends the kill command to the ThinkPad notebook via cell phone to the PC’s onboard mobile broadband service and the computer becomes inoperable. If the PC is turned off when a user sends a kill command, the PC will automatically disable the next time it registers on the network. Users also receive a confirmation text message that validates when the Remote Disable technology has been successfully executed. To reactivate the disabled PC, a user enters his or her pre-set passcode created during notebook startup.

"Remote Disable dramatically reduces the anxiety and waiting people often experience when they’ve been the victim of a lost or stolen notebook PC,” said Bob Galush, vice president, Software and Peripherals Marketing, Lenovo.” Through our work with Phoenix, we are able to reduce customers’ security risks and potential exposure of their confidential data when their ThinkPad notebook is lost or stolen. Combined with features like built-in biometric fingerprint readers, full hard drive encryption and embedded security chips, Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks offer the latest industry-leading PC security technologies.”