Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: Laptop
From: "Nipper, Johnny R." <Nipperj () UNCW EDU>
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:11:49 -0400
Computrace contains two parts on the client. The agent and the persistent module. The agent is a running process and the persistent module is on the bios. The part in bios (persistent module) reinstalls the agent once it is removed. Thus the 'survive operating system re-installations.' For the surplus of a Computrace machine you must provide the serial numbers of the machine to Computrace. They then free up that license and you can sell the machine. -Johnny -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Valdis Kletnieks Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 3:54 PM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Laptop On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:52:51 CDT, "Michael A. Rodriguez" said:
From the Absolute Software site: When embedded in the BIOS of computers by major OEMs, such as Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Motion Computing, Panasonic and Toshiba,
the Computrace Agent can survive operating system re-installations, hard drive reformats and even hard drive replacements.
Disingenuous marketing speak - I've *never* had a BIOS that didn't survive an OS install, or a hard drive format/replacement. Having said that, putting it in the BIOS *does* raise the bar considerably for an attacker who's trying to get away with something nefarious. Slightly related question - those sites that use this sort of anti-theft tech and also dispose of old machines via auction or similar means: What do you do to ensure that the purchasers/recipients of said machines don't get hassled when the call-home feature misfires after they take possession?
Current thread:
- Re: Laptop, (continued)
- Re: Laptop Sealey, Adam L (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop John Kaftan (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Sarah Stevens (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Valdis Kletnieks (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Nipper, Johnny R. (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Michael A. Rodriguez (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Zach Jansen (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Basgen, Brian (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Julian Y. Koh (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Valdis Kletnieks (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Nipper, Johnny R. (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Harold Winshel (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Harold Winshel (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Mike Waller (Jun 11)
- Re: Laptop Allison Dolan (Jun 12)
- Re: Laptop Steven M Werby/FS/VCU (Jun 12)
- Re: Laptop Harold Winshel (Jun 12)
- Re: Laptop Basgen, Brian (Jun 12)
- Re: Laptop Spransy, Derek (Jun 12)
- Re: Laptop Sherry Callahan (Jun 12)
- Re: Laptop Sherry Callahan (Jun 12)
(Thread continues...)