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Technology helps the police to crack down on computer theft and data

April 2008 by Marc Jacob

UK police have been cracking down on computer
theft and Absolute Software technology has been a key ingredient to
their success.

Absolute(r) Software’s tracking and recovery software,
Computrace(r)One(tm), is unique in that it provides the underlying
services in the form of Theft Recovery Officers who work directly with
police around the world in order to track lost and stolen laptops and
return them to the rightful owners.

Absolute has recovered over 5000 stolen computers world-wide and that
number is growing rapidly given the prevalence of mobile devices and
their attractiveness to thieves. With over 2.5 million users globally,
Absolute’s technology and services are recognised as powerful tools to
support police efforts and it has recently been awarded the Association
of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) ’Secured by Design’ accreditation.

Only the police have the authority to recover the stolen property. If
this isn’t possible, for example the laptop turns up in a country where
the local police aren’t cooperative, the remote data delete feature of
ComputraceOne can be used to render the device useless and delete any
sensitive data. In either case, both serve as a powerful deterrent to
thieves.

Alan McInnes, General Manager, ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives (CPI)
said: "As well as helping police to tackle crime, this software
addresses the ACPO and Home Office desire that valuable consumer goods
should have crime prevention measures incorporated in the design and
manufacture."

The recent spate of high profile UK Government data loss incidents
appears to be beyond measure. But these reflect a simple truth: today’s
world is increasingly mobile, and the devices we use to achieve that
contain even more critical information, business, governmental and
personal.

Commenting on these incidents, William Pound, VP International
Operations, Absolute Software, said: "The time to put security measures
in place is before something happens, not after, and it’s time that UK
businesses and organisations put mobile security policies and systems
into place to prevent data losses and to prevent thieves from profiting
from crime."

He continued: "If these devices get into the wrong hands, the
consequences could be disastrous. Absolute’s solution can continue to
protect the data even after the device itself has fallen into the wrong
hands. Organisations must adopt a multi-layered approach to security and
use an asset tracking solution so that stolen or lost laptops can be
retrieved and any sensitive data it contains deleted remotely."

Some of the most recent cases solved have included:

* The company recently tracked and returned two laptops belonging
to the Swiss Football Association that had been stolen from its offices
during a break in. As well as the laptops, other stolen property was
found by the police and as a result a man was arrested and the
investigation is ongoing.

* Last month, five laptops stolen from Danish school, Odense
Tekniske Skole were traced to Saudi Arabia. The client requested that
Absolute’s Theft Recovery Team performed a remote deactivation, which
wiped all data and rendered the laptops useless.

* One recent recovery in the West Midlands led the police to more
than 30 other stolen laptops and the subsequent arrest of the culprits
thanks to the tracking power of ComputraceOne.

ComputraceOne is pre-installed on a range of laptops from manufacturers

including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Toshiba. Once Absolute
Software is notified that a ComputraceOne equipped laptop is stolen, the
ComputraceOne agent calls into the Absolute Monitoring Centre every 15
minutes to report its Internet Protocol (IP) address. With this address,
the Theft Recovery Officer produces an evidence pack to give to the
police, they in turn contact the Internet Service Provider (ISP), who is
able to identify the address of the person using the stolen laptop
allowing the police to recover the laptop and return it to its rightful
owner.


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