Re: Laptop

["Nipper, Johnny R." <Nipperj () UNCW EDU>]

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?