New offering locates lost, stolen PCs

Lost laptops and stolen computers are a growing concern to federal IT managers,

but now agencies can help protect themselves thanks to a reseller agreement

announced Monday by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Lockheed's Mission System business unit, Gaithersburg, Md., will resell

Computrace, a computer tracking, monitoring and theft recovery solution

from Absolute Software Corp.

Computrace is an undetectable security software program that uses a

tracking agent to transmit its location to a monitoring center on a regular

basis. When a computer is reported missing, its location is automatically

logged the next time the machine accesses the Internet or is plugged into

a telephone line. Security personnel then coordinate the recovery with law

enforcement.

Absolute, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has several U.S. government

clients, including the General Services Administration, which used Absolute's

technology to break up a theft ring a few years ago, a company spokesman

said.

Peter Scott, executive vice president and chief financial officer at

Absolute, said the reseller agreement with Lockheed Martin fits in with

Absolute's business plan of "building through partnerships" and that the

company is looking forward to doing business with Lockheed Martin's extensive

customer base.

Computrace costs $50 per unit per year, Scott said.