Securing laptops remotely

Posted by Anita Hawser


Mobile security is one of the biggest problems companies face. Employees taking laptops out of the company firewall and securing remote workers can be challenging to say the least.

And one does not need to point out that increasingly regulators are taking a dim view of customer data that is loss through company or employee negligence. Last year, the Financial Services Authority in the UK fined Nationwide Building Society £980,000 for the loss of a laptop which contained "confidential customer data" on 11 million customers.

Telecoms/network provider Alcatel-Lucent Bell believes it has the answer to securing remote workers and lap tops with its OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian. Invented in Bell Labs, the solution is an "always-on mobile security solution card that remotely secures, monitors, manages and locates a mobile computer and protects laptops and the data that resides on them".

"The mobile blind spot is defined as a condition where enterprises have no visibility or control over the location, use or configuration of employee laptops, increasing the risk of government fines, company reputation and hampering day-to-day operations of organisations. With this technology, enterprises have 24/7 access to employee laptops – enabling them to automatically enforce policies for compliance and deliver software patches and upgrades to their increasingly mobile workforce even if the laptop is turned off."

Forty-five percent of respondents in a recent study of 255 executive level IT, security and compliance decision makers from the US and Germany, admitted they have to deal with mobile blind spots. “The study shows nearly three out of four IT security managers have had to help their company deal with the consequences of a lost or stolen company laptop,” explained Tom Burns, head of Alcatel-Lucent enterprise activities.

An additional 76% said a lost or stolen laptop needed to be protected with more than encryption – for example, having the ability to locate the device using GPS and remotely revoking access to data. This is particularly useful if the laptop has been stolen, although looking at the picture of the mobile security card, a question that springs to mind is what happens if someone removes the device from the lap top?

According to the survey, 50% of companies state they would switch their wireless service to a provider with a security solution that protects lost or stolen laptops used remotely. No surprises then that SingTel of Singapore, Magyar Telekom of Hungary, and broadband carrier IIJ (Internet Initiative Japan Inc.) of Japan have announced they plan to offer the Laptop Guardian as a value-added service over their high-speed HSPA mobile data communications network.

The Laptop Guardian has its own processor, power supply and operating system, and it leverages wireless broadband networks, including next-generation, high-speed 3G GSM/HSPA networks. It has also been integrated with McAfee's Endpoint Encryption software.