Lenovo to launch ThinkPad laptops with Intel's anti-theft technology

Anti-theft technology is all the rage now, not surprising given high profile data breach cases involving the loss of laptops. Add to that the fact that the shipment of laptops has now surpassed that of desktops, and the reason is obvious.

This week brings news that Lenovo's ThinkPad T400 laptop will be the first to ship with Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection, an unimaginatively named implementation of Intel's anti-theft technology. In conjunction with Absolute Software Computrace, the two technologies are designed to enable laptops to detect and respond to theft.

The Intel anti-theft component comes in tandem with Intel's Centrino 2 platform and vPro technology, and with the technology built into the vPro chip itself. Absolute Software's Computrace tracking and anti-theft software are stored in the laptop's firmware, adding the ability for an IT department to track the physical location of a laptop.

Upon report of theft or loss, an IT technician can immediately and remotely render the T400 inoperable. Once turned on, the laptop will automatically sync with the preconfigured home base, where engineers can even go as far as performing a remote wipe of the on-board data. An inability to connect to the central server for a long period of time could see it being set to shut down.

If you recall, this is the second time in as many weeks where Lenovo has unveiled a new technology designed to thwart theft. Just last week, Lenovo unveiled a system in which SMS, or text messaging technology, can be used to remotely disable a laptop that has been stolen or lost. Unlike this scenario though, it only worked through a WWAN (wireless WAN) card, which also required a mobile data subscription.

For more:
- check out the eWeek article

Editor's Note: Changes have been made so that this article no longer insinuates that Computrace cannot work through a WWAN card. Computrace is able to work through any type of Internet connection.