As notebooks are increasingly being used as desktop replacements, the need for security is intensified. Vendors are now looking for advanced ways to protect their products and differentiate themselves from the competition.
To this end, Optima is currently looking at incorporating built-in finger print readers and BIOS passwords to prevent the PC from booting without a password and to stop unauthorised users from changing the BIOS settings.
Lee says the company is also strengthening the physical protection of the unit with Kensington lock slots that use either numeric locks or key locks.
"Kensington locks are popular and widespread in the notebook market as they act as a simple deterrent for opportunistic thieves.
“However, BIOS passwords offer even greater protection for notebooks, preventing unauthorised users from booting to Windows without a password. For would be thieves that are unable to crack the system, these stolen machines have zero value.”
Lee says Seagate has also just announced a new series of HDD that features hardware-based encryption technology, which makes the information within the HDD useless or unreadable if thieves get their grubby mits on it.
“The enabling and disabling of the HD-based encryption feature can be controlled by the corporate network, making it totally invisible to the end user of the notebook. Soon notebooks may also include motion detection and alert features…so the notebook would sound an alarm if moved from a stationary position,” Lee says.
The only problem will be remembering that particular feature at the end of the day in the rush to beer-o’clock.
Toshiba is using fingerprint security in some of its models. Codrington says biometrics will play an increased role in notebook security in the next six to 12 months, which will appeal to security conscious executives, SOHOs and SMEs alike.
Backup is also very important and Toshiba has a number of different options for data collection, backup and data management and storage.
“We have technology built in the hard drive to protect the data on the primary drive, and we’ve developed the software RAID on our business notebooks. Our business notebooks also have a select drive where you can take out the optical disk drive and plug in a hard disk drive through a bay and this can be either a weekly or monthly occurrence to back up the data,” he says.
Toshiba also has a notebook security concept called Easyguard. “It’s about making technology durable and reliable. There’s continued advances there in terms of hard drive protection, or software RAID,” he says.
Acer is looking at a software-based utility that locks down the use of certain I/O ports on the notebook. Leone says this is great for corporate customers.
“People load MP3 files or other undesirables on their workstations in the office. So by providing the software-based lockout they can’t copy things onto external devices or import them onto their notebooks. That’s definitely a good measure particularly where there’s a lot of data sensitivity in the government and corporate spaces,” he says.
Wireless security is also high on the agenda in terms of notebook security.
Pacific Data, an Australian-owned security specialist distributor, is the exclusive distributor of AirDefence Wireless Intrusion Detection and Prevention.
Pacific Data’s sales and business development manager, Phillip Lay, says having launched AirDefence at the Sydney Wi-Fi Expo in 2005, the company is seeing an exponential increase in demand from corporate enterprises to secure the Wi-Fi devices such as the corporate fleet of Intel Centrino Wi-Fi-enabled notebooks.
“AirDefence secures mobile laptops from wireless security threats especially when travelling beyond the secure boundaries of the corporate firewall -- a la wireless hotspots at cafes, hotels and airports,” Lay says.
Just when you think wireless security issues are being ironed out, threats like “evil twin” or “wi-phishing” make everyone paranoid all over again.
Pacific Data says “evil twin” is where wireless hotspots look normal and appear like the real thing to someone using them, but in fact is a fake.
A hacker hiding nearby sends out a wireless signal that looks like a “legitimate” one, but as soon as you log on, the hacker has full unbridled access to your notebook.
On the horizon
Logitech’s market research from the US shows that the average “basket size” -- accessories sold as part of the same invoice as a desktop -- is around US$200. “What’s a bit of a worry for resellers is that for notebooks, it’s still much lower, about half that at US$100,” Manera says.
While this research was carried out in the US, Manera says it is probably quite an accurate reflection of the Australian market as well.
What is not certain is how much of that boils down to customers’ ignorance or a lazy sale technique.
Manera says one of the things that is really booming for notebooks now is internet communication such as headsets, notebook cameras, things that people are using for VoIP and videoconferencing, but very few resellers showcase these solutions.
“If the customer saw the headset hanging there next to the notebook, the average person may not make the link between that headset and [VoIP] Skype.” But if the reseller demonstrates it, then it will makes sense to the customer and quite likely result in a sale, he says.
While popular peripherals include the notebook mouse and cordless full size keyboards, Manera says in the next 12 months, we’ll see Bluetooth, video communications and VoIP applications, USB headsets, webcams and, due to the MP3 craze, portable speakers.
Lenovo’s offerings manager, David Nicol, agrees there is significant opportunity for resellers to wrap a wide range of products around the notebook sale: “For example, in the business and government marketplace, things like our ThinkVantage technologies; the security chip; Rescue and Recovery (which is a backup and recovery tool); and access connections which simplifies connectivity to wireless networks.”
The notebook market in the next 12 months is going to get tougher, and Toshiba’s Codrington says resellers can keep ahead of the game by being well-prepared and well-educated. “They need to make sure they’re a little bit diverse in terms of their customer base and they need to be up to date with the technology.”
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