Portland Oregon, September 25, 2008 – Techchex, Inc. signed an exclusive US distribution agreement with GadgetTrak for distribution security products to Resellers who service supporting the Small and Midsize business market.

GadgetTrak is a new and highly advanced theft recovery software that helps protect laptop computers, PDAs and removable media devices such as USB flash drives, external hard drives and iPods. “GadgetTrak has several unique abilities that you will not find elsewhere”, said Kathryn Shimabukuro, President of GadgetTrak, “today’s laptops and smart phones store or have access to critical data such as social security numbers, credit cards and passwords… our software offers a unique, patent-pending theft recovery solution that allows a mobile device to discretely contact the real owner in the event they are lost or stolen. Laptop owners have the ability to remotely wipe critical data from their devices before the information falls into the wrong hands. ”

There are more than 630,000 laptops lost or stolen at US airports each year, valued at $1.4[i] billion in hardware alone. “This is small change compared to the value of the data on the computers, or the business impact of lost data, which is where the real cost of loss lies”, said Shimabukuro. The Ponemon Institute reports that 36% of data breaches were a result of a lost or stolen laptop, with a total cost of $2.6 million dollars per incident.

“Small and Midsize businesses are extremely vulnerable because they often do not have a robust security or data backup plan” said Peter Hoogerhuis, CEO for Techchex, Inc. “We’ve been looking for a product like this to bring to our Resellers, and are pleased to announce our exclusive agreement to distribute this line through Resellers for the Small & Midsize business market”. The SBA estimates the number of US Small Businesses to be over 26 million. With each Small Business owning multiple computers and mobile devices, this is a very large market and provides a lucrative opportunity for Resellers.

Techchex will offer GadgetTrak along with their expanding managed service offerings.. According to Techaisle the purely remote managed services spend is likely to reach US$1.5 billion in 2008. “Our managed service message is Mitigation of Risk,” said Shelah Johnson, CMO for Techchex, “our two products are a natural fit”.

Techchex will add two GadgetTrak products immediately; Laptop Theft and Recovery (supporting PC and Mac), and Mobile Phone Anti-Theft (supporting iPhone, Blackberry®, Symbian and Windows Mobile®). MSRP (manufactured suggested retail price) for these products start @ $14.95/year. GadgetTrak has a robust roadmap and Techchex will add new products relevant to the Small and Midsize business market as they become available.

Techchex Resellers can look forward to complete supporting collateral and Techchex turnkey processes, making these products very easy to get in the hands of their Small and Midsize customers. “We are excited to get this new technology for our business customers”, said Bryan Nelson of Ambient, Inc., a System Integrator and Techchex Reseller, “we believe we will sell thousands of these!”

About the companies:
Techchex Inc. (SM) is a Managed Services Distributor (MSD) of security applications, products, and services designed to create new revenue streams for Resellers who wish to transition into a Managed Service Provider (MSP) role. Managed services include critical managed IT, remote monitoring, and security services that help Resellers provide better support and develop stronger customer relationships. The company provides complete go-to-market strategies, sales collateral, Reseller training and customer onboarding.

GadgetTrak® provides theft recovery and loss prevention solutions for mobile devices. Through unique and patent-pending solutions they provide customers proven technologies to recover their devices and protect critical data in the event they are lost or stolen. The company continually collaborates and “partners” with technology leaders and law enforcement to improve systems and methods of recovery.

Some 55,843 mobile phones and 6,193 other devices, such as laptops were left in Lond cabs over the past 6 months a recent study suggests.  The study surveyed 300 taxi drivers and warned users to password-protect equipment amid rising fears of identity theft.

GadgetTrak provides two layers of protection in cases of mobile loss or theft. GadgetTrak’s lost and found tags provide a way for those that simply find your device to return it to you, without having to engrave your personal information on the device, the finder can simply log onto our website and communicate with the owner anonymously. The second layer is GadgetTrak software which provides is in cases of actual theft, our software enables devices ranging from iPods, mobile phones, laptop computers and more to communicate back to the owner regarding its location as well as the ability to remotely wipe data from the devices.
Source: BBC

In a continuation of the segment that ran on Good Morning America this morning, ABC News also did a nice write-up of the story.

Cracking a laptop password is a lot easier than most people think, regardless of operating system whether it is Windows, OS X or even Linux. Password protected laptops may slow a thief down, but gaining access to a stolen laptop is quite easy as there are open source and commercial tools available specifically for this function. According to LaptopTheft.org a 14 character password can be cracked within minutes.

GadgetTrak® has launched new software for Windows® systems that will enable tracking and remote data destruction in the event of theft.

Portland, OR  September 3, 2008 — GadgetTrak® a leading innovator of theft recovery and data protection software has launched GadgetTrak® Search & Destroy™ for Windows®, providing the ability to remotely destroy data on stolen laptops. In addition to providing tracking information to recover the device, the software wipes sensitive data on the device complying with the US Department of Defense clearing and sanitizing standard DOD 5220.22-M to ensure that data is thoroughly and irrecoverably destroyed.

A recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute found that 36% of data breaches were the result of lost and stolen laptops or other mobile devices costing companies $2.6 million dollars per incident. As the workforce becomes more mobile this number is expected to increase. In a separate study the Ponemon Institute found that 12,000 laptops are lost in US airports each week, 70 percent of which will not be recovered.

When a laptop with GadgetTrak® Search & Destroy™ installed is stolen, the owner of the device will automatically receive tracking information as the device changes location. The owner can securely enable remote data destruction, once activated an email is sent to the owner once the data wipe is verified. All personal information including documents, emails, application settings, cookies, passwords, photos and other information are wiped from the system.

“Every day we hear about laptops being stolen with sensitive information. For our corporate, government and health care customers the cost of a laptop being stolen is not the value of equipment, but the risks associated with data on the device, especially when customer and patient records are involved. Not only can we now track and recover the device revealing the thief’s identity and device location, but also ensure that any data on the device is not compromised” stated GadgetTrak® Founder and CTO Ken Westin.

GadgetTrak® Search & Destroy™ works with Windows® 2000, NT, XP, 2003 and Vista. The software is designed to work in hostile network environments, is hidden on the system, tamper proof and cannot be removed without an administrative password. For more information about GadgetTrak® Search & Destroy™ visit www.gadgettrak.com.

About GadgetTrak
Based in Portland, Oregon GadgetTrak® provides patent-pending and innovative anti-theft and data protection solutions for mobile devices including laptops, mobile phones, portable storage and media devices.