Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

Absolute Software recently surveyed its corporate and consumer customers about data security. The survey was completed by 402 corporate customers and 1842 consumer customers.

The survey found that computers have been lost without company awareness, and that such losses are costly. Companies who use Computrace reported a better ability to manage computer assets. For consumers, identity theft and the cost of losing a computer rank as important reasons for using laptop recovery software. However, most consumers do not take other precautions against laptop theft, such as encryption or password-protection.

John Livingston, chairman and CEO of Absolute Software, has this to say:

“Most of us store personal information, banking records, credit card information, passwords and other sensitive data that could be used to harm us if it falls into the wrong hands. For businesses, a lost or stolen computer can lead to the intense media scrutiny associated with a data breach. Consumers who experience the loss of a computer may be at increased risk for identity theft and often lose irreplaceable photos, records and music collections.”

Here are some highlights from the corporate survey:

• 62% of companies believe missing computers go unnoticed
• 20% believe data has been breached without company awareness
• 20% of companies have experienced a data breach ; 61% of those breaches are attributed to employee error or misconduct
• 16% believe a significant breach can cost $1 million dollars or more
• 83% of companies indicate they are better able to manage their computers with Computrace (to deter theft & recover missing computers)
• Data loss is 39% confidential business information, 22% employee information, 22% customer information, 16% Social Security Numbers

For more results from the corporate survey, read here.

From the consumer survey, results indicate that 20% of people know of someone who has had a computer lost or stolen. Concerns about lost computers were, in order of importance: losing their hardware, having someone steal their identity, losing files/data and having unauthorized persons access their files.

Read more from the consumer survey here.

Tags: absolute software, laptop security, data security, it security, business security, computrace, lojack for laptops, identity theft, id theft, survey, business survey

A man stole 150 laptops from offices in 5 states in the past 5 years by portraying himself as ‘trusting’ to office employees.

A clean-cut and well dressed man would walk into an office and mingle with the company staff. He would blend into the crowd in his “faceless” attire and manner. When they left for the day, he’d pack up the office laptops and walk away. Eric Almly was a serial laptop thief – known to some as the Khaki Bandit – until he made one fatal mistake. He went up against LoJack for Laptops – and lost.

Eric Almly had his routine down – he’d practiced until perfect. His operation, from choosing his targets to the resale of his stolen goods online, was flawless. No fingerprints, no leads from video surveillance, no connection between stolen goods and online sales.

But Eric Almly chose the wrong target in April of this year. He stole 11 laptops from the Tampa headquarters of Outback Steakhouse; unfortunately for Eric, 9 of those laptops were equipped with Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops.

The stolen computers transmitted the computer’s physical address to police, and police were able to nab the thief. Almly was then connected with many other crimes from the evidence on hand.

Almly had gotten away with 139 laptop thefts before being caught, and would have continued to evade police had Outback Steakhouse not protected their laptop computers with Absolute’s product.

Via sptimes, wsj Tags: eric almly, lojack, lojack for laptops, laptop security, laptop theft, serial thief, laptop recovery

Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops helped prevent the identity theft of a man in Lynnwood.

Michael Pierson left his laptop in his car while he went to the mall. Though only gone for a half-hour, Michael returned to find his car had been burglarized, and his laptop was missing.

Michael Pierson was prepared, though. He had installed Computrace LoJack for Laptops.  Absolute Software was notified of the theft and when the laptop next came online, the IP address was sent to Lynwood police. The police were able to track the thieves to a motel where there was evidence that the thief was running an identity theft operation.

In this case, identity theft may have been the motivator for the burglary. With the help of Computrace LoJack for Laptops, the crime was prevented and the laptop returned.

Story from KIRO Seattle Tags: lojack for laptops, computrace, absolute software, laptop recovery, laptop theft, laptop security, identity theft

Absolute Software has announced a $1.7 million deal with a US Federal Agency to secure 37,000 of the agency’s computers with ComputraceComplete for 3 years.

As evidenced by the multiple data breaches happening at the Federal level, this deal signals a very positive shift in data security practices aimed to address the growing problem.

ComputraceComplete is Absolute’s flagship product for laptop security, offering multi-layered security solutions in computer theft recovery, data protection, secure asset tracking and a recovery guarantee. IT managers will have a tool to monitor computer movement – where computers are, who is using them, and even what’s installed on them. In the case of loss or theft, ComputraceComplete can help recover the laptops, or to remotely wipe data against the possibility of a data breach. ComputraceComplete helps agencies meet the data security & reporting requirements of state and Federal privacy regulations.

John Livingston, Chairman and CEO of Absolute Software, notes that:

“As government agencies and departments implement plans to better secure their mobile computers and the sensitive information on them, they are seeking industry-standard tools and best practices from established vendors. This latest sales contract will help a key Federal agency track and secure 37,000 of their 40,000 laptop and desktop computers. We believe this is strong validation that Absolute’s BIOS-supported hardware and data protection products are viewed as a critical solution in government settings.”

Tags: absolute software, computrace, computrace complete, laptop security, laptop recovery, laptop theft, it security, government it, government security

The Ohio State Government has been faced with increased scrutiny after two data breaches in recent weeks, and subsequent reports of loose laptop security. Now, steps are being taken to protect laptops with Absolute Software’s Computrace.

On June 10, the theft of a peripheral device put 64,467 employees and many other citizens at risk for identity theft. A later announcement indicated that a laptop reported missing on May 30 (reported on June 15) put another 439 people at risk for identity theft. Further investigations found that there have been 11 reports of missing or stolen laptops in 2007, and 26 in 2006 – placing even more citizen’s at risk for identity theft.

The state of Ohio auditor’s office announced yesterday that it will be installing Absolute Software’s Computrace to protect the sensitive information contained on State laptops.

“Those laptops are purchased with taxpayer dollars so we want to get that thousand dollar laptop back.” says Susan Raber of the Ohio auditor’s office.

“We’re responsible for the personal information we receive so we want to do everything possible to protect that personal information.” Raber says.

Computrace will allow the auditor’s office to remotely shut down any lost computer, and to track it down. The Computrace suite of software products provides a robust, multi-layered security solution to enable organizations to address issues of regulatory compliance, data protection, computer theft recovery and asset tracking.

Read more about multi-layered laptop security by Computrace here.

Via wsyx Tags: computrace, ohio, ohio state, ohio government, laptop theft, laptop security, identity theft, id theft, absolute, absolute software

Absolute Software has a growing track record of protecting and recovering laptops in the education field. We’ve compiled a list of some of our more interesting recovery stories.

Like in California, where 13 laptops were stolen from a private school. When one went online, Absolute Software tracked it down – and there, the police found the laptops… and $100,000 in stolen goods!

For more great recovery stories, read our press release here [PDF].

Tags: absolute software, education, laptop recovery, laptop security, laptop security schools

Miguel Guhlin and Absolute Software’s CEO John Livingston had an incredibly detailed discussion about CompuTrace, which is now posted on MGuhlin.net

Miguel had done a project about protecting deleted files, and had given some misleading information about Absolute Software’s CompuTrace product. John Livingston then did the right thing, which was to contact Miguel and start a conversation.

What ensued is a very positive discussion about CompuTrace, tracking technology, and how these are positive forces in schools. The conversation is a little technical, going into the potential technical skill of laptop thieves in removing CompuTrace, essentially nullifying it, but it is a positive discussion.

I also want to point you to the comment on the post, which was written by a happy CompuTrace customer who purchased the product for over 800 laptops in a school. This kind of unsolicited customer feedback is always great and makes for a great case study:

“I heard about Computrace, and purchased it for all our laptops. We announced that all laptops now had software that would be able to locate these lost or stolen machines. After that, our losses from incidents like I’ve described dropped to ZERO!” – Steven Eisenberg

Tags: computrace, laptop security, education security, laptops in schools, laptop theft, thieves, boot-n-nuke