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In 2014, Kaspersky Lab reported that it had demonstrated a way to misuse certain Computrace communications to trigger remote actions on a computer. Absolute, the company behind Computrace, disputed the technical conclusions and said its client/server communications were strongly authenticated and encrypted. The available accounts do not resolve that disagreement, establish that the described attack worked against every configuration, or show that the issue remains exploitable today.
Computrace was a legitimate anti-theft and asset-recovery service. Its firmware persistence feature could help an installed agent survive operating-system or disk changes on configured computers. The presence of a firmware component does not, by itself, prove that an active agent or subscription is present.
What Kaspersky said it demonstrated
In its 2014 account, Kaspersky said researchers intercepted unencrypted network packets associated with Computrace and sent data that mimicked communication with the legitimate server. In the reported demonstration, the resulting remote actions included activating a camera and initiating a wipe. Kaspersky described the agent as partly resident in BIOS or UEFI firmware and capable of reinstalling its operating-system component if that component was missing. Kaspersky’s 2014 technical account and its separate report on the demonstration are the sources for those claims.
Kaspersky also said at the time that it had no evidence Computrace was being used as an attack platform, while warning that the potential existed. That was the company’s assessment in 2014, not evidence about current incidents.
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Why the finding was disputed
Absolute disputed Kaspersky’s conclusions. In a response reproduced by Security Affairs, the company said, “Computrace employs strong authentication and encryption in its client / server communications.” It also said Kaspersky had not demonstrated successful implementation of the suggested ARP-poisoning or DNS attacks. Absolute stated that authorized customers could uninstall the agent and disable persistence. These are Absolute’s statements in the 2014 dispute, reproduced by a third party—not an independent resolution of the technical disagreement. Read the reproduced response and FAQ.
Kaspersky’s Black Hat USA 2014 paper records that it notified Absolute and describes the vendor’s denial of vulnerabilities. Kaspersky’s conclusion argued that the agent needed stronger authentication and encryption; that is the researchers’ position, not settled consensus. Kaspersky’s paper, “Absolute Backdoor Revisited”, documents its account and conclusion.
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| Question | Kaspersky’s 2014 account | Absolute’s reproduced 2014 response |
|---|---|---|
| What was established? | Kaspersky reported intercepting unencrypted packets and mimicking server communication in a demonstration. | Absolute asserted strong authentication and encryption in client/server communications. |
| Did the sources establish a successful remote attack? | Kaspersky described a demonstration that triggered remote actions; the available account does not establish that the suggested network attacks succeeded broadly or on every configuration. | Absolute said Kaspersky had not shown successful ARP-poisoning or DNS attacks. |
| Which configuration and version? | The cited material describes the researchers’ examined setup; it does not establish exposure across all versions and configurations. | The reproduced response gives the vendor’s general security position; it does not resolve every configuration discussed by Kaspersky. |
| When? | Published in 2014. | Response reproduced in 2014 by Security Affairs. |
The sources reviewed here leave the dispute unresolved. They do not establish that all computers with a BIOS component had an active agent, that attackers broadly exploited it, or that the 2014 issue remains exploitable in current products.
What older research does—and does not—add
Core Security’s retrospective on its 2009 work described BIOS-embedded code that could install a Windows agent. In the configuration it examined, Core Security reported plaintext HTTP communication and weak XOR obfuscation. Those findings are specific to that earlier research and should not be treated as proof that every later Computrace version had the same behavior. Core Security also warned that changing and reflashing firmware incorrectly could render a computer unusable. See Core Security’s retrospective on its 2009 research.
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How widespread was it, according to 2014 figures?
Kaspersky’s 2014 blog reported that Kaspersky Security Network had 150,000 customers with an active Computrace agent. In the same period, Kaspersky researcher Vitaly Kamluk estimated that 2 million computers worldwide were active. The first is a reported network figure; the second is explicitly an estimate. Neither number describes current prevalence.
How to check whether Computrace is active
Separate three questions: whether the firmware contains a persistence component, whether an operating-system agent is installed, and whether the service is activated or associated with an account. A firmware setting alone may not answer all three. The available historical sources do not provide a reliable universal check for current computers, so use the device manufacturer’s instructions for the exact model and firmware.
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- Check the computer’s BIOS/UEFI setup for Computrace or Absolute-related settings. Record what the screen says rather than changing an unfamiliar option.
- Look for an installed agent or service in the operating system, but do not assume that its presence or absence alone establishes firmware status or an active subscription.
- If the status is unclear, contact the computer manufacturer or Absolute support with the model and serial number and ask whether persistence is present, enabled, or associated with an active service.
How to request deactivation safely
For a computer you own or administer, contact the manufacturer or Absolute support for instructions specific to its model and service status. Kaspersky’s 2014 paper advised a legitimate owner who had not subscribed to Absolute services to contact Absolute to deactivate persistence.
Historical HP guidance illustrates why instructions should be model-specific: an HP BIOS FAQ revised in April 2006 said the persistence module shipped disabled on HP computers and required enabling through Absolute software installation or image deployment. It described disabling through Absolute’s Customer Center after a properly authenticated account request, with the change taking effect on the agent’s next call. That is old HP-specific guidance, not a current universal procedure. Read HP’s April 2006 Computrace BIOS FAQ.
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Do not treat firmware modification or reflashing as a routine removal method. Core Security warned that an incorrect firmware change could make a computer unusable. Standard antivirus software should not be assumed to disable firmware persistence.
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