SprintSecure Laptop Guardian provides nonstop laptop security
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 24th 2007 4:56PM
posted Oct 24th 2007 4:56PM
Sprint users (or corporations with Sprint-using employees) can now look forward to "24/7 laptop security through remote monitoring, location and locking if a machine is lost or stolen." Thanks to a partnership with Alcatel-Lucent, the carrier will soon be offering up the OmniAccess 3500 PCMCIA card, which features its own battery, a "small operating system, a CPU, memory and an SD slot." When inserted into a lappie, it "hijacks the TCP/IP stack, so the card can enforce policies regarding what users can download, no matter what method the user employs to connect to the internet." Furthermore, the card must be loaded in for the laptop to even become usable, and the built-in GPS enables it to be located (and subsequently wiped or locked) regardless if the machine it's in is powered on. Reportedly, the device itself will run you around $250 and can only be used with unlimited data plans, and the extra security features will tack on another $10 to $12 per month.[Via InfoWorld / Yahoo]
What happens if you just replace the hard disk?
What happens if you take the card out, will the system just lock up?
It either inserts itself as a winsock lsp chain or installs a driver similar to the way a firewall program works, either way it can easily be "fixed" by someone with administrative credentials on the system and a little computer knowledge. Best guess as to when the card is removed, simply the lsp chain is broken and internet connectivity does not function, plug the card back in, chain is restored, internet is restored.
Seems very vulnerable to multiple kinds of attacks.
AT first i thought, why not just replace the harddrive and get a free laptop, what does this thing do? but in reality, corporations are less worried about losing hardware and more concerned about losing private data.
That is exactly what this would be for (secure private data). Unless it operated at the BIOS level, reinstalling the OS, and trashing the card should restore it to full functionality. Although I am not sure how they would handle if the drive was just removed, and the data read from another PC. Encryption of files?
Linux livedisk or even a usb stick with windows hacked onto it, no?
"Furthermore, the card must be loaded in for the laptop to even become usable.."
How can they enforce this if it can be added to any laptop, without something in the bios being modified to check for the card? I think by usable, they mean able to boot the current OS on the HDD.
That's exactly what my first thought was as well - Linux Live CD, and extract whatever data you need. From there a criminal could even go on to reformat the harddrive after getting what they need, and put whatever OS they want onto it. I'd hardly call it secure.
Pedro offers you his protection
Do you take it off of any sweet jumps?!
If you're determined to get your hands on the data in the laptop you've stolen, there's not much that can be done to stop you. Once someone has physical access, the game is pretty much up, and trying to track it with GPS just means they have to block the signal.
Wrap the unit in tinfoil.
That will stop anything.
OK power laptop off, then steal. Remove HD from laptop, and connect to another computer. Copy off data.
How does this card protect your data again???
I'm not even gonna start on how ineffective this is going to be. It wont even stop n00b wannabe hackers like me.
The way they describe it, it almost sounds like a little hardware firewall for you laptop... which is cool.
Probably won't stop you from stealing the laptop and ripping the hard drive, but if the hard drive is encrypted (like my work laptop) then you will have some major problems accessing meaningful data.
Fact is, security is a multi-layered process and it is never perfect. This item is just part of it.