PC Phone Home

July 1, 1999

Wednesday, June 30, 1999 at 15:21:00

"There were 509,000 Laptops and PCs stolen in the USA last year.

According to the FBI, 97% of them will never be recovered. That's

astounding.", Frank Jones, President Of Codex Data Systems, gave AntiOnline an

exclusive first look at their newestproduct, PC Phone Home, which they say

will help to change all that.

The user is given a program to install on their desktop or laptop computer.

The user then registers the serial number that comes with the software, along

with the serial number of their hard drive, which the software finds for them,

with Codex Data Systems.

If the user's computer is stolen, they report it to their local police

department as usual. They then also report the theft to Codex Data Systems.

Codex's servers then go into full alert, looking for the digital tracking

beacon that the user's PC will give off the next time it goes online. Codex

will then, for no extra fee, work with the detective in charge of the theft to

help recover the stolen goods.

PC Phone Home is set to make its initial debut next week. Beta tests have led

to the software being officially endorsed by the New York Clarkstown Police

Department. Codex Data Systems is offering the software, and one year

monitoring service, free of charge to primary schools, secondary schools, and

___"HOUSES OF WORSHIP"___ [Emphasis mine]. It will be made available to the

general public for $49.95, which includes the price of the software,

registration, and monitoring services for one year. The software runs on any

system running the Windows 95, 98 or NT operating systems. Codex plans to

release a Mac OS version in the near future.

Codex Data Systems is known for their D.I.R.T. software, which is sold to

law enforcement and military organizations as a 'virtual listening device',

and is said to loosely resemble the famous Back Orifice Trojan.

More information about PC Phone Home can be obtained from Codex Data System's

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