Intel touts laptop lockdown solution

Intel has teamed up with Fujitsu Siemens, Phoenix Technologies, Lenovo, McAfee and more to announce a remote access offering that is designed to make a stolen or lost notebook unbootable.

The chip giant announced its Anti-Theft Technology (ATT) at the recent Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, but remained tight-lipped about how the technology actually works.

At the annual IDF conference Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president of Intel's Mobility Group stated: "I'm very happy to announce the Intel Anti-Theft Technology, which Intel is working together with the industry notebook OEMs and all the big names to make sure that we have a solution that really works on asset and data defense. One of the biggest worries is that if I lose my notebook - or if it's been stolen - that the notebook and the data is going to be maliciously used by someone. We are putting a lot of effort into the management of corporate clients."

According to industry experts, the solution will be added to Intel's Active Management Technology, which is currently present in Centrino vPro-based systems for businesses.

At present, it is unknown whether ATT will be available in new vPro systems, or as a BIOS (or firmware) update to current systems. The technology is expected to be available to consumers during the fourth quarter of this year.