Security apparatus and method

• US 5,764,892 A
• Filed: 11/15/1995
• Issued: 06/09/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Absolute Software Corporation
• Original Assignee: Absolute Software Corporation
• Inventors: Cotichini, Christian, Nguyen, Thanh Cam, Cain, Fraser
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): COLE, TONY MITCHELL
• Application Number:
  US08/558,432
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 364/514 R, 364/222.5, 364/286.4, 364/709.05, 379/37, 379/39, 379/40, 379/45, 379/56, 379/57, 379/58, 379/95, 379/93, 379/106, 379/142, 342/450, 342/451, 307/10.2, 326/8, 180/287, 116/5, 116/6, 116/75, 340/426, 340/506, 340/503, 340/571, 340/572, 340/568, 340/825.44, 340/825.36, 340/825.34, 340/825.54, 340/825.48, 340/825.52, 380/4, 380/23, 380/25, 395/200.3, 395/200.31, 395/200.47, 395/200.49, 395/200.57
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1408 by using cryptography for digital transmission H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/126 and has means for transferring I/O instructions and statuses between control unit and main processor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/313 using a call-back technique via a telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/73 by creating or determining hardware identification, e.g. serial numbers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/28 Restricting access to network management systems or functions, e.g. using authorisation function to access network configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/12 Detection or prevention of fraud
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/30 Security of mobile devices; Security of mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent

Abstract

A system for locating and monitoring electronic devices utilizing a security system that is secretly and transparently embedded within the software, firmware, or hardware of a computer. This security system causes the client computer to periodically and conditionally call a host system to report its serial number via an encoded series of dialed numbers. A host monitoring system receives calls from various clients and determines which calls to accept and which to reject. This determination is made by comparing the decoded client serial numbers with a predefined and updated list of numbers corresponding to reported stolen computers. Only calls from clients on the predefined list are accepted. The host also concurrently obtains the caller ID of the calling client to determine the physical location of the client computer. The caller ID, indicating the physical location of the stolen device, and the serial number are subsequently transmitted to a notifying station in order to facilitate the recovery of the stolen device. The security system remains hidden from the user, and actively resists attempts to disable it.

Claims

1. A method for tracing an electronic device having an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia, comprising a string of characters, for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device, including transmitting said string of characters which comprise said identifying indicia to said host system through two or more transmissions wherein each of said transmissions contains a segment of said identifying indicia; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of disposing an agent within said electronic device for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection and resists disablement.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said agent evades detection and resists disablement by incorporating deflection methods which prevent discovery.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said deflection methods deflect read and write attempts to the location on said hard drive where said agent is installed.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein said agent is a terminated and stay resident program which does not interfere with other running applications.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein said agent initiates the step of providing said identifying indicia automatically and without user intervention.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said step of providing said host system with identifying indicia for said electronic device occurs without causing audible or visible signals to be emitted from said electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1 further including the step of determining the appropriate time for said electronic device to communicate with said host system.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said unique address of said telecommunications interface is provided to said host system from said telecommunications system.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of providing said unique address of said telecommunications interface to said host system further includes the step of sending said unique address from said host system to a remote location.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of sending said unique address to a remote location uses facsimile mechanisms to transmit said unique address.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of sending said unique address to a remote location uses electronic mail to transmit said unique address.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of sending said unique address to a remote location uses radio frequency signals to transmit said unique address.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of sending said unique address to a remote location uses telephone lines to transmit said unique address.

15. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of providing a list of lost or stolen electronic devices to said host system and comparing said list with said identifying indicia provided by said electronic device to determine if said electronic device is lost or stolen.

16. The method of claim 15 further including the step of obtaining from said telecommunications system said unique address of the telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device if said electronic device is lost or stolen.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said telecommunications system is a wireless system and said method further including the step of providing said identifying indicia to said host system over said wireless system.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of providing said identifying indicia to said host system over said wireless system utilizes radio frequency signals.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said step of providing said identifying indicia to said host system over said wireless system utilizes microwave signals.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein said telecommunications system is a Land Line system and said method further including the step of providing said identifying indicia to said host system over said Land Line system.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said Land Line system utilizes telephone lines.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said Land Line system is a cablevision network which utilizes cable lines.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing said host system with said identifying indicia for each of said electronic devices further includes the step of encoding said identifying indicia by a predetermined scheme.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said step for providing said host system with identifying indicia occurs periodically at predetermined time intervals.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said step for providing said host system with identifying indicia is initiated upon the occurrence of one or more predetermined events.

26. A method for tracing an electronic device having a hard drive and an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

disposing an agent within the boot sector of said hard drive for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection and resists disablement;

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

27. A method for tracing an electronic device having a hard drive and an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

disposing an agent within the partition sector of said hard drive for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection and resists disablement;

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

28. A method for tracing an electronic device having a hard drive and an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

disposing an agent within an operating system file IO.SYS for a MS-DOS operating system in the electronic device for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection and resists disablement;

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein said electronic device has a non-volatile memory and said operating system file is stored in said non-volatile memory.

30. A method for tracing an electronic device having a hard drive and an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

disposing an agent within an operating system file IBMBIO.SYS for a PC-DOS operating system in the electronic device for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection and resists disablement;

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

31. A method for tracing an electronic device having a hard drive and an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

disposing an agent on a ROM BIOS in the electronic device for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection and resists disablement;

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

32. A method for tracing an electronic device having an unique identifying indicia, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address used for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to a host system, said method comprising the steps:

establishing an interface between said electronic device and a telecommunications system through said telecommunications interface for communicating with said host system;

providing said host system with said identifying indicia for said electronic device to determine the identity of said electronic device, wherein said identifying indicia is encoded within one or more telephone numbers used by said telecommunications interface to call said host system; and

providing said host system with said unique address of said telecommunications interface associated with said electronic device to enable the determination of the location of said electronic device.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said telephone numbers are transmitted with a prefix from a stored list of telephone prefixes.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein each entry on said list of telephone prefixes is individually attached as a prefix to said telephone number until a communication through said telecommunications system is successful.

35. The method of claim 32 wherein said telecommunications interface comprises a modem.

36. The method of claim 32 wherein said host system decodes said identifying indicia transmitted through said one or more telephone numbers and only answers said call if said identifying indicia matches an entry on said list of lost or stolen electronic devices.

37. A method for remotely tracing an electronic device from a host system, said host system connected to a telecommunications device for receiving transmissions from said electronic device, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to said host system, said method comprising the steps:

receiving through one or more telephone calls identifying indicia from said electronic device for determining the identity of said electronic device;

comparing said identifying indicia against a list of lost or stolen electronic devices to determine if said electronic device is lost or stolen, wherein said host system only accepts said one or more telephone calls if said identifying indicia transmitted within said one or more telephone calls is on the list of lost or stolen electronic devices; and

receiving said unique address of said telecommunications interface connected to said electronic device for enabling the determination of the location of said electronic device.

38. An apparatus for remotely tracing an electronic device from a host system, said host system connected to a telecommunications device for receiving transmissions from said electronic device, said electronic device connectable to a telecommunications interface having a unique address within a telecommunications system to which it is connected, said unique address for providing location information, said telecommunications system connected to said host system, said apparatus comprising:

means for receiving through one or more telephone calls identifying indicia from said electronic device for determining the identity of said electronic device;

means for comparing said identifying indicia against a list of lost or stolen electronic devices to determine if said electronic device is lost or stolen, wherein said host system only accepts said one or more telephone calls if said identifying indicia transmitted within said one or more telephone calls is on the list of lost or stolen electronic devices; and

means for receiving said unique address of said telecommunications interface connected to said electronic device for enabling the determination of the location of said electronic device.

39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein said telecommunications system is a wireless system and said apparatus further including means for receiving said identifying indicia from said electronic device over said wireless system.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein said means for receiving said identifying indicia from said electronic device over said wireless system utilizes radio frequency signals.

41. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein said means for receiving said identifying indicia from said electronic device over said wireless system utilizes microwave signals.

42. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein said telecommunications system is a Land Line system.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said Land Line system utilizes telephone lines.

44. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said Land Line system is a cablevision network which utilizes cable lines.

45. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein said telecommunications device comprises a modem.

46. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein said identifying indicia is received in encoded form through said one or more telephone calls.

47. A method of encoding and transmitting an identification number associated with an electronic device through a modem to a host system through a sequence of calling numbers said method comprising the steps;

identifying said electronic device by a unique string of numbers comprising said identification number;

assigning one or more digits in each of said calling numbers to correspond to one or more digits within said identification number;

assigning an indicator digit to indicate which digit or digits within said identification number that said one or more digits represent.