Ericsson to enable wireless kill switch for laptops !!!

 

A laptop remote-kill switch has long been a fantasy of those paranoid about theft and service providers alike. And now, with the latest wave of subsidized notebooks coming out of wireless carriers, said switches are coming in the form of a new mobile broadband card from Ericsson. The card, designed to work on HSPA/GPRS/EDGE networks, is slated for release in June, and carries with it a number of innovative features. But the most interesting is that it supports certain security options that work with Intel's anti-theft technology, allowing carriers to send a signal that will lock down the machine and make it unusable.

Ericsson's F3607gw module boasts reduced power consumption, prolonged battery life, and increased integration with the OS. Ericsson specifically highlights the F3607gw's wake-on-wireless feature, which allows users to remotely wake the notebook at specific times, like when an important message is received or the computer has been stolen.

"An anti-theft management service in the network can send a message via SMS to the mobile-broadband module inside the notebook, which securely transfers the message to Intel's Anti-Theft function inside the processor platform," says Ericsson. "This takes appropriate actions, such as completely locking the computer and making it unusable."

Intel's anti-theft technology (ATT) differs from current disk encryption because it would render the laptop useless even if the hard drive is replaced. While this may not help the victim get the laptop back, if widely adopted, ATT could deter thieves from stealing laptops in the first place if all they would end up with is an inoperable chunk of plastic and metal. Of course, if users want their data to be secure and for the laptop to be unbootable, it's probably wise to employ both ATT and some sort of disk encryption technology, in case the hard drive is removed and placed in another machine.

Theft isn't the only situation in which the machine may be remotely locked down, though. As noted by the AP, customers who bought their notebooks under heavy subsidies from wireless carriers in exchange for service contracts may also find their computers being locked down if they fall too far behind on their bills. This situation seems unlikely, however—not only would it be seen as a massive invasion of privacy for a carrier to lock users out of their own computers, but there will likely be a way for users to shut off the wake on wireless feature, rendering such attempts useless.

Njoy …