PlumChoice Touts New Anti-Theft System for Laptops

An American company known as PlumChoice has launched a new anti-theft system for laptop computers.

Dubbed the SafeLink Anti-Theft service, it protects the data stored on a notebook against theft or breach if it gets lost or stolen.

The software-based system resides on the machine and communicates with the SafeLink server platform.

Cloud Backup

During configuration, users can select specific files and folders for the service to protect. The device is locked down when a loss/theft trigger is detected, and unauthorised access to the user’s data is prohibited. If the user fails to authenticate and unlock the device within a configurable period of time, the data is wiped from the machine to eliminate the risk of data theft.

If a user reports a device as lost or stolen, PlumChoice can set a poison flag so that when the device connects to the server, the data is immediately wiped.

Built upon the company’s SafeLink platform, the Anti-Theft Service is bundled with cloud-based data backup that allows users to securely retrieve their data if the user-selected data is wiped clean. Provided by PlumChoice’s IT-certified technicians, the Anti-Theft service is the latest value-added offer on the SafeLink platform and is designed to help ISPs, wireless carriers, device manufacturers, and other retail partners serving the small and midsize business and consumer markets to deliver a higher level of service.

With the recent explosion in mobile computing, the private data and confidential business information stored on laptop computers is extremely valuable and vulnerable, according to a recent report by the Ponemon Institute. Ponemon researchers found just over 12,000 laptops are lost per week at US airports alone. Another 600,000 are stolen each year, resulting in an estimated $5.4 billion (£3.3bn) loss in proprietary data, according to Safeware insurance agency. The FBI reports that 97 percent of stolen PCs are never recovered.

Data Loss

“For the SMB user, the data loss is much more devastating than the hardware loss,” said Josh Goldlust, vice president of product management for PlumChoice. “You can buy a new computer, but it’s virtually impossible to replace the data, not to mention the risk of identity theft that could result if the data contains personal identification information. The SafeLink Anti-Theft Service enables our partners to offer an unprecedented level of security and peace of mind to their customers for a simple monthly subscription fee.”

The SafeLink Anti-Theft software is compatible with any Windows-based laptop to provide secure and customizable data protection. During the initial setup, users can access PlumChoice’s technical expertise and assistance to install and configure the anti-theft and network-based backup software to meet their needs. As part of the Anti-Theft launch, PlumChoice is partnering with Intel to support Intel Anti-Theft Technology. PlumChoice’s software solution will work in conjunction with Intel’s hardware-based, notebook-lockdown capability.

“Intel has helped accelerate mobile-computing adoption and continues to innovate in helping protect laptops as well as the sensitive data they carry,” said Anand Pashupathy, Intel’s general manager of anti-theft PC services. “We are excited to enable PlumChoice’s SafeLink service platform with Intel Anti-Theft Technology to deliver a robust hardware-based PC and data-lockdown solution backed by their service and support.”