solution for a client - locking down stolen laptops

[BostonGeek1]

We just acquired a client that has no security policy, of any kind when it comes to their laptops, and has fairly high employee turnover for these mobile users. What would you guys recommend as an easy to manage/centralized laptop lockout solution. I was thinking a combination of encrypted file system, with some kind of third party remote lockout. Any ideas? The client would be open to upgrading to windows 7 prof/ultimate for EFS.

[shamrin]

You might take a look at these guys: http://www.absolute.com/en/products/.../features.aspx. I haven't used them but I bought a couple of refurbs that had their software in them and, as far as I could tell, it's impossible to remove. The original owners of the refurbs (who were at a prestigious university right near you) couldn't quite grasp how to turn off the phoning home, although I was assured they had a console to do this quickly and easily. Anyway, that's a whole other story, but the software seemed to be very effective at phoning home and easily withstood my re-installing Windows.

[jdpetrov]

Originally Posted by BostonGeek1

We just acquired a client that has no security policy, of any kind when it comes to their laptops, and has fairly high employee turnover for these mobile users. What would you guys recommend as an easy to manage/centralized laptop lockout solution. I was thinking a combination of encrypted file system, with some kind of third party remote lockout. Any ideas? The client would be open to upgrading to windows 7 prof/ultimate for EFS.

I'm currently investigating AlertBoot and LoJack for laptops.

http://www.absolute.com/en/lojackforlaptops/home.aspx

http://www.alertboot.com

[Paul Rodgers]

I personally would go with lojack from absolute and also asset tags on the machines as a visual deterrent. There is a manufacturer that makes indestructible asset tags for laptops. http://www.stoptheft.com/site/index.php