Intel, Lenovo and Absolute Software unveil notebook anti-theft protection

Select Lenovo* ThinkPad* T400 notebooks will be among the first notebooks to ship with support for Intel® Anti-Theft PC Protection and Absolute* 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 Lenovo ThinkPad T400 notebook has not "checked in" with the Absolute Monitoring Center over the Internet within a specified time, Anti-Theft PC Protection working through Computrace would automatically lock the notebook, rendering it unusable to an unauthorized user. 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," the computer will be locked. Working alone, Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection can lock a computer if it experiences more than a prescribed number of password attempts, or if it exceeds an internally programmed IT policy for check-in time. The IT department can unlock the computer when it is back in the hands of an authorized 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 a secure computing experience," said John Livingston, CEO of Absolute Software.

This is another technology first with ThinkPad notebooks for Absolute. Computrace was first available in the BIOS of ThinkPad T43 notebooks as early as 2005, enabling Computrace's unique self-healing aspect 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 excellent engineering of ThinkPad notebooks, customers can be confident their business notebook PCs are protected by an additional layer of security."

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.

"The notebook lost in the airport or stolen from a car can be devastating and is a common nightmare in the back of every business traveler's mind," said George Thangadurai, director, Strategic Planning, and general manager, Anti-Theft Program, Intel Mobile Platforms Group. "The collaboration with Absolute and Lenovo is aimed at helping solve that problem. The fusion of technologies in the Lenovo ThinkPad T400 notebook establishes a new level of security for today's mobile workforce."