Your Laptop Will Self Destruct in 5 Seconds

I have come across an interesting product that may have a future, although right now it is for businesses and organizations rather than individuals. Never-the-less, I am intrigued by it and thought I would pass it along.

A company called Iron Mountain has come out with a service that enables customers to control data elimination or lock down all files on stolen PC's and laptops via an online interface. Their new service is called DataDefense and features triggers that allow a user or organization to recognize if a laptop or PC has been stolen or is missing. It can be used to order the computer to shut down the operating system each time it tries to connect with the Internet.

It is available either as a subscription-based service hosted by Iron Mountain or as licensed software run from an organization's own data center. DataDefense is powered by agents that can detect when an unaccounted-for Iron Mountain-encrypted laptop or PC appears online.

At that point a user can decide to repeatedly power down the machine or delete and overwrite every file, document, PowerPoint presentation or folder it holds. A time-sensitive "Out Of Contact" rule can be set to instruct the device to lock itself out if it's out of contact with its designated enterprise server, whether it has been an hour, day, week or month. The service also features a "Password Hacking" rule to set the amount of times a password can be tried before the data is destroyed.

If customers wishes to re-create the data that has been eliminated or shut out if the laptop or PC is recovered, they can access Iron Mountain's Data Protection Server service, which constantly backs up all customer data over the Web to an Iron Mountain secure vault repository for retrieval.

The cost of Iron Mountain's DataDefense is charged per seat license or per agent on a PC or laptop. Pricing begins at about $12.00 per seat per month. As I said, it ain't for the common folk yet, but I am willing to bet that there will be one for us someday soon. What a world we live in!