Dell jumps on security bandwagon
By Andy Santoni
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 3:39 PM PT, Oct 6, 1998
Dell Computer on Tuesday jumped on the security bandwagon, announcing DellGuard, an initiative designed to
help guard against the theft of corporate data and computer assets.
On Monday, Hewlett-Packard detailed an initiative called ProtectTools to increase security within a network.
At the Intel Developer Forum last month, Craig Barrett, Intel's president and chief executive, told technologists
that next year Intel will add security features to its hardware to spur Internet-commerce applications.
The Dell initiative includes an alliance with Ernst & Young LLP to provide consulting assistance on enterprise
security policy development and deployment. It also includes a toll-free phone number to report stolen computer
systems and a mandatory hard drive password feature for Dell's Latitude notebook product line, available at no
charge.
"Security is one of the growing concerns of IT managers today, particularly with mobile products," said Carl
Everett, senior vice president of the Personal Systems group at Dell.
The alliance with Ernst & Young will enhance that company's ability to supply Dell customers with security
recommendations that are consistent with Dell's current and future products. Ernst & Young becomes a
member of Dell's expanding network of service alliances.
"Our survey work shows security is critical to the growth of electronic commerce and it will become increasingly
important to organizations as they rely on technology to drive marketing and sales support, supply chains, and
other business operations," said Jon Darbyshire, national director of information security services at Ernst &
Young.
For asset protection, DellGuard offers Dell's support in tracking stolen computer systems. After a victim reports
the loss of a system, Dell will note a tag number in its product support database. When someone calls Dell
seeking support on the stolen computer, the Dell support technician informs the caller that the hardware was
reported stolen and service is denied. The information then passes on to Dell's Global Security team, which will
work with the appropriate authorities to assist the owner in retrieving the stolen system.
The mandatory hard drive password lets IT managers require some or all users always to provide a hard drive
password before gaining access to the data on the hard drive, even if a user moves that hard drive to another
computer. Now a standard feature on Dell's Latitude notebook line, Dell plans to include the data security
feature on the Dell OptiPlex desktop and Dell Precision workstation product lines in the future.
Dell Computer Corp., in Round Rock, Texas, can be reached at (800) 388-8542 or www.dell.com.
Andy Santoni is a senior writer at InfoWorld.
infoworld.com |
