Kill Switch – the ability to render devices inoperable to prevent theft – has become a hot topic these days. The ability to remotely destroy the data on a lost or stolen device has been available for some time now, but Kill Switch not only remotely destroys the devices’ data, but also the device itself, rendering it useless to thieves.
Just last week, Google and Microsoft signed an agreement with the New York Attorney General to add a “kill switch” option to upcoming versions of Android and Windows Phone devices, as part of the “Secure our Smartphones” initiative.
But now, the largest chipmaker, Intel, is soon going to offer a kill switch for laptops as well. The company has been working on a program called Wireless Credential Exchange (WCE) with various partners in an effort to bring the kill switch to other mobile devices, including laptops.
The program uses RFID technology to locate and track devices such as laptops, hospital equipment, and other devices, including a Kill Switch option for lost or stolen devices.
Most of you may have heard of RFID technology, which has been available for over fifty years. RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification, is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to carry signals for the purposes of automatically identifying and locating tags attached to objects.
More here.
