When a laptop is loaded with Absolute's ComputracePlus application, tracking-agent software silently connects with the company's monitoring centre whenever the device is connected to the Internet. If that notebook is reported stolen or lost, its location is tracked and local law enforcement is called in to recover the stolen property. Leon said the software is very effective. "One time we were tracking a laptop broadcast as we approached an apartment to serve a warrant," he said. "When we knocked on the door, this guy answers and over his shoulder we could see the laptop all lit up and connected to the phone line." The technology works over analogue phone lines, as well as digital broadband connections. If the laptop is calling over a phone line, the software uses technology that allows Absolute to identify the phone number. If the device connects to the Internet over a T1 line, a cable modem or DSL, the location is traced using the IP (Internet protocol) address. "We take the address to the ISP (Internet service provider) -- AOL or whoever it happens to be -- and get the account information associated with that IP address," said John Livingston, Absolute's chief executive. But like most computer security products and services, analysts warn, these tracking systems have vulnerabilities. "A lot of people steal laptops for commercial espionage -- to get the data that resides on them," said Alan Promisel, a portable computer analyst at research firm IDC. "Those people will steal them without ever intending to go online." SFPD's Leon agrees, noting that businesses users are often less interested in retrieving the laptop and more worried about the confidentiality of the data on their systems. A benefit to these tracking systems is that a customer can request a signal be sent to the notebook that would delete all the information on the hard drive. Another weakness of the tracking systems is that in some cases a thief could reformat and configure the hard drive in a way that bypasses the tracking agent. "We'll survive a reformat of the hard drive, but where it gets tricky is when people reinstall operating systems on top of each other. It also depends on what OS is being loaded," Absolute's Livingston said. Specifically, the software will survive a reformat and reinstallation of any Windows 9X operating system. Installing Windows XP or 2000 can create problems, depending on how the system is configured. "Someone can wipe the drive everywhere except where we are loaded, because we're working at such a low level in the system -- that is, below the Windows operating system at the hardware level," Livingston said. Experts say this type of tracking security would work best if it is part of a larger theft-prevention strategy. Other devices, such as cable locks, can prevent the theft from occurring in the first place, as can motion detectors that sound an alarm if the notebook is removed beyond a certain perimeter. Some information technology managers said that in certain situations, such as in a business setting or on a college campus, warning notices posted in conspicuous places can also serve as a deterrent. "Before we got the service, we had two or three laptops disappear from each campus," said Richard Scaletti, director of networks and telecommunications for North Shore Community College's three campuses in Massachusetts. "We installed the software and put up signs -- not one has disappeared yet."
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this is a good idea