Lenovo's laptop kill switch

It's an old story but I'll say it again: Stolen laptops are the #1 computer crime in the world, though they don't get anywhere close to the amount of press that identity thieves and NORAD hackers do.

But preventing physical theft is a surprisingly difficult challenge, and even the most dedicated security enthusiast can't prevent every mugging, or every rental car trunk from being jimmied open during a quick bite of lunch. Meanwhile, electronic security measures like encryption and biometrics have terrible uptake levels. Other solutions, like LoJack for Laptops, can be helpful in recovering lost hardware, but by then any sensitive data on the device will have likely fallen into the wrong hands.

Enter a new solution from Lenovo, the ThinkPad people: Using a text message sent via the cellular network to disable a notebook when a user discovers it's gone missing. It works just like a standard text message: A 3G cellular chip in the laptop is always listening for the kill signal, and when it arrives, the laptop immediately becomes unusable. If the laptop is off at the time, it goes into lockdown the next time it's booted. No data on the laptop is destroyed, but a password is required to make the notebook functional again.

Techie details on how the lockdown works are still developing, but Lenovo has said the feature will be free of charge on select model ThinkPads and will work wherever you can get GSM data service.