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New Intel technology combats laptop losses

http://blog.oregonlive.com/hillsboroargus/2009/04/new_intel_technology_combats_l.html

Posted by Susan Gordanier, Hillsboro Argus April 29, 2009 11:30AM

Whether through theft or unintentional misplacing, the loss of a notebook computer can create major problems for a business.

The costs come not so much from replacing the equipment, as from loss of control of the information stored on it, whether proprietary documents or private details about customers.

New technology from Intel Corporation offers one solution. The features, called vPro, are not programs that run after the computer is turned on. Instead vPro features are built into the circuitry of the computer's hardware.

Depending on how the technology is set to react after detecting a security breach, it can completely lock the computer, rendering it completely useless, or delete the keys necessary to access encrypted data stored on it.

Directions on which action to take can also arrive from another computer -- directed from a console in the owning company's information technology department -- even if the stolen computer has not been turned on.

The Intel group that developed vPro is based at the Cornell Oaks campus on Greenbriar Parkway in Beaverton, according to Bill MacKenzie, Intel communications manager. Several original equipment manufacturers have already announced their support for the new technology and offer it in computers aimed at the corporate market, he said. These include Lenovo, Fujitsu, Asus and Acer.

Intel recently released the results of a Ponemon Institute study that showed how much is at stake in having a quick effective response policy in place for stolen notebooks. The study found that the actual cost to the company is much less if the loss of the laptop is discovered within 24 hours. The average cost after one day is $15,933, but if the company doesn't learn the computer is missing until over a week passes, the costs could rise as high as $115,849, on average, to control the damage caused by compromised data.

This highlights another advantage of vPro technology: The lost machine itself can be set to detect its own theft, disabling itself if it has not "called home" to its company's technology center within an set period of time.

The study also found that a lost laptop belonging to a company's CEO isn't nearly as expensive as one belonging to a manager or director. That's because lower level executives are more likely to have detailed files on their computers.

The entire "Cost of a Lost Laptop" study is available online at communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-3076.