OT: Computer security, anti-theft
#1
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OT: Computer security, anti-theft
Over the weekend I bought the wife a laptop 'puter. She needed it for school and the sale was perfect timing so she got an early Christmas present.
What I bought was a Toshiba 17" 2.8ghz with a 60gb drive, 512mb ram, Wi-Fi, DVDR+RW/CD-RW and a host of other goodies.
During the registration process Toshiba offered to insure it against loss or theft. For 109.00 they'll insure it for three years with a "retreival program". What this is, is a program that is loaded on the drive and each time you log onto the net it will "call home" and report it's current location. If stolen, I report it, the thief signs on to the net, it calls home, the monitoring company traces the internet address and they call the cops then an arrest is made, I get my 'puter back. This program cannot be erased from the drive, even if the drive is reformated.
I think it's a good thing, except the part where it coninuously broadcasts my location. I feel it might lead to mointoring of our personal activities and possibly allow unauthorized searching of my files. It's not that I have anything to hide. I don't go looking at strange sites with dirty pictures.
What do you guys think about something like this?
What I bought was a Toshiba 17" 2.8ghz with a 60gb drive, 512mb ram, Wi-Fi, DVDR+RW/CD-RW and a host of other goodies.
During the registration process Toshiba offered to insure it against loss or theft. For 109.00 they'll insure it for three years with a "retreival program". What this is, is a program that is loaded on the drive and each time you log onto the net it will "call home" and report it's current location. If stolen, I report it, the thief signs on to the net, it calls home, the monitoring company traces the internet address and they call the cops then an arrest is made, I get my 'puter back. This program cannot be erased from the drive, even if the drive is reformated.
I think it's a good thing, except the part where it coninuously broadcasts my location. I feel it might lead to mointoring of our personal activities and possibly allow unauthorized searching of my files. It's not that I have anything to hide. I don't go looking at strange sites with dirty pictures.
What do you guys think about something like this?
Last edited by Iggy; 12-09-2003 at 06:52 AM.
#2
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I think I'd save the $109! I don't like the idea of someone having the ability to trace everything I do. Big brother is all around us and I realize that, but I don't want to pay to give them even better access into my personal affairs.
Just my 2 cents.
Just my 2 cents.
#3
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Here's a link to Toshiba's site with the detailed specs on the 'puter.
What do you think???
Toshiba Laptop
What do you think???
Toshiba Laptop
#6
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Retrieval company claims the program cannot be erased even with reformating the drive.
I would think that the entire drive would have to be replaced to be rid of it then. And that's if the thief finds out it's on the drive.
I would think that the entire drive would have to be replaced to be rid of it then. And that's if the thief finds out it's on the drive.
#7
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There's probably a way to erase the program, it may not be easy, but a bit of searching would probably reveal something. And if the thief runs a firewall, he'll be able to block the program from phoning home. Like you said, if he knows it's there.
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