GovernmentVAR Product of the Week: Panasonic Toughbooks Embedded With Anti-Theft Technology

Specifically, Panasonic embedded support for Absolute's Computrace-enabled security solutions in the CF-19 (left) and CF-30 rugged notebooks and the CF-T5 business-rugged tablets, with plans to incorporate the technology into additional models later in 2007.

The Computrace Technology Platform delivers theft recovery, data protection and secure asset tracking with communication over IP or PSTN between the software agent and the Monitoring Center server. By having the Computrace Agent embedded in the BIOS, applications can easily be rebuilt in cases where the operating system is reinstalled or the hard drive is reformatted or replaced.

The software's client/server architecture protects the system from intrusion that often comes with open and listening port. Further, communication is TCP-based and always encrypted, and the Agent runs as a nondescript service and is not listed as an application, nor does it appear on the programs menu list or as a system tray icon.

Reflecting the company's confidence in the software, Absolute customers may be eligible for a Recovery Guarantee payment of up to $1000, if their protected computers are stolen or lost and not recovered within 60 days.

Prices for the Panasonic Toughbooks vary depending on model. Other vendors that embed Absolute's software include Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP and Lenovo.