Stolen Dell Computer Tracked Down With Computrace. What Is Computrace In Dell?

Stolen Dell Computer Tracked Down With Computrace. What Is Computrace In Dell?

CompuTrace is now known as “LoJack for Laptops”. It is a proprietary laptop theft recovery application that is able to lock the laptop remotely, delete the files, and track the stolen laptop on a map. This persistent security feature is actually integrated into the firmware of the device itself.

Also, LoJack for Laptops offers extra services like an investigation and recovery team who teams up with law enforcement agencies around the world to return protected laptops to the owners. LoJack for Laptops or CompuTrace that were activated occasionally phones home, the Absolute Software server, to both announce its current location and to check if the machine has been reported stolen.

The CompuTrace persistence module from Absolute Software is preinstalled into many BIOS images by nearly all laptop vendors. When Kaspersky Lab analyzes CompuTrace, it reveals that the software has been pre-activated without user authorization. The software agent acts like a rootkit that reinstalls a small installer agent into the Microsoft Windows operating system during boot time.

This small installer agent will then later download the complete software agent from Absolute Software’s server using the internet. Unfortunately, this small installer agent is vulnerable to certain local attacks and hacker attacks which can then control the network communication of the victim.