News

posted on 19 February 2008 17:53

Virtuity, a UK technology company, has developed Backstopp, a service to wipe out sensitive data on stolen or lost laptops and PCs.

The machine's location is monitored and if it moves out of a defined area data on it is automatically destroyed, to USA Department of Defense standards, according to Virtuity.

Virtuity is a small, a very small private linmited company in the UK registered with Companies House in June 2007. The main product appears to be Backstopp and it has a website whereas Virtuity does not.

The laptop has its location understood and monitored by wireless technology, including WiFi, the mobile (GSM) network and RFID tags. The RFID tags work even when the laptop is switched off. However data destruction relies on the machine being powered up and connecting to a wireless network so that it can receive the 'destroy all data' command.

Backstopp starts quickly though, starting tracing and locating the laptop as soon as it is turned on and deleting the data before the boot sequence is completed.

In GSM mode the decommission instruction is immediately sent to the stolen laptop. When booted, the GSM card intercepts the decommission instruction and securely deletes the specified data on the laptop. All this happens before the machine is logged on and is invisible to the user. BackStopp's GSM functionality can be utilised on laptops with built-in GSM chips or through 3G USB Modems.

Internet BackStopp can be used on any laptop which accesses the internet so no new hardware is required. When utilising the internet the Backstopp client informs the Backstopp servers that it is available and checks for decommission instruction. If there is a decommission instruction, Backstopp securely deletes all specified data on that machine. This can be carried out before the computer is logged on.

RFID BackStopp can utilise RFID tags and readers to perform an automatic data decommission without any administration intervention. Each computer is tagged with an RFID chip and communicates with RFID readers throughout the organisation. While the computer is in range of a valid RFID reader the machine operates as normal. If the machine is moved out of range of the readers the data is securely deleted from the machine with no intervention required.

Erasing data using the operating system API is not a sufficient defence against identify theft or corporate sabotage professionals. Operating systems merely mark the appropriate parts of the disk as free in the file allocation table leaving the actual data on the disk. BackStopp uses file deletion patterns detailed in the US Department of Defence’s National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (US DoD 5220-22.M), ensuring decommission data can not be retrieved.

The Backstopp service has a 24 x 7 control centre and if a device is reported stolen or missing then the data destruction process can be triggered. The centre itself could deduce a machine is at risk and trigger software on the device to start wiping data. However, Backstopp utilises multiple levels of security to ensure that only authorised personnel can execute a secure deletion. This can be customised to customers' needs.

In a cunning move a webcam-equipped laptop can be instructed to take a picture of the user and send it to the control centre, which also receives a report of the files destroyed and the machine's last known location. All the Backstopp agent software on the machine is said to be invisible to the thief.

Customers of the service can define which files are to be deleted. Backstopp can locate and destroy all types of data from client records, e-mail and contact files, word processor or spreadsheet documents and website cookies. The Backstopp client is configured to delete all files which have the same file extension.

As an extra safeguard Backstopp is able to offer a backup arrangement that allows you to access the last backup of the data on that machine.

This seems to be a very well-timed service capitalising on the regular reports in the media of lost and stolen laptops threatening people with identity theft for years to come. However it is also a very new service and there are no reports of how effective it is in operation.

Backstopp will operate on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. Prices start from £10.00 per laptop per month.