Phoenix FailSafe (hereafter referred to as "FailSafe") is a subscription service where laptop owners can communicate with the FailSafe-enabled laptop easily and securely over the Internet. Access privileges are controlled by the owner according to a predefined policy, and the owner maintains the ability to disable the laptop at any time, retrieve or erase data, monitor usage, and remove or limit access. All of FailSafe is controlled by an easy-to-use, web-based user interface. FailSafe empowers you to take a proactive approach in reacting to laptop theft. If you experience laptop theft or loss, log in to the Phoenix FailSafe Web Client at https://dell.failsafe.com and take immediate steps to secure both your laptop and your data.
As soon as you realize that your laptop is missing, find a computer with Internet access and log in to the Phoenix FailSafe Web Client at https://dell.failsafe.com. Logging in to the FailSafe Web Client allows you to track your laptop’s general location as well as protect your data. Generally speaking, you have the following features available:
- The ability to track your laptop and determine its general location.
- The ability to protect your data remotely. You can retrieve or erase data as well as lock your laptop to prevent unauthorized use.
FailSafe consists of three discrete components or elements:
- A FailSafe Client Agent quietly resides on your registered laptop. The FailSafe Client Agent maintains activity logs and carries out instructions from the FailSafe Server.
- A FailSafe Server element maintains account information, policies, and settings associated with each FailSafe registered laptop. This server issues commands over the Internet to each FailSafe Client Agent.
- A FailSafe Web Client enables monitoring, tracking, and control of registered laptops. The FailSafe Web Client can be accessed by logging in to https://dell.failsafe.com.
You can use the Track functionality on the FailSafe Web Client to help you determine your laptop’s location. The location information contains IP (Internet Protocol) network details, allowing you to see where your laptop last connected to the Internet. FailSafe can also construct a location history as your laptop’s location changes across IP networks. If you have a GPS-enabled subscription of FailSafe along with the necessary hardware, FailSafe can even track the physical location of your laptop based on GPS signals.
FailSafe can help you generate laptop identification and location reports based on the IP tracking information. This information can be provided to law enforcement authorities to assist them in retrieving your laptop.
FailSafe can help you generate laptop identification and location reports based on the IP tracking information. This information can be provided to law enforcement authorities to assist them in retrieving your laptop.
Phoenix FailSafe captures the following types of tracking and identification data:
- IP Trace: FailSafe captures public and local IP addresses and identifies the Internet Service Provider (ISP) where a stolen laptop is connected.
- Wi-Fi information (where supported): FailSafe also identifies the name of a wireless network that the stolen laptop connects to.
- GPS Activity (where supported): FailSafe automatically detects the presence of a connected GPS device and periodically transmits GPS coordinates to the FailSafe
- Server.
Below are some of the immediate Steps that you should consider taking in the event of loss or theft of your PC.
File a Police Report with your local Police Station.
- Log into your FailSafe account and make sure to report your machine as lost/stolen.
- Make sure that the “WebCam” functionality is enabled, if you would like to receive any images of the user.
- Go to “Where’s My PC” option and see if you can located any IP Trace/location of your PC.
- Try to retrieve your important files, before you disable the PC (once you disable your PC you will not be able to retrieve your files).
- Another option you have is to delete your files. If you think your files are highly confidential, and if you have already retrieved those files, you have an option to delete those files.
- Always, make sure to check your emails. If you have reported your PC as lost or stolen, every time a signal is sent from the agent to the server, you will receive an email giving you the status of your agent PC.
FailSafe keeps regular track of all the connection profiles that Agent comes across. Log into your FailSafe account and click on “Where’s My PC?” tab. Then click on the “More” option. On this screen you’ll get the entire history of IP Traces of where about of your PC. You can select the date for which you want to trace the location of your PC.
If you see any IP Trace information (after the date your PC was reported Lost/Stolen), then that would mean that your PC was connected to the internet at that location or somewhere close to that particular location.
If you see any IP Trace information (after the date your PC was reported Lost/Stolen), then that would mean that your PC was connected to the internet at that location or somewhere close to that particular location.
There are few things that you need to remember while trying to retrieve a file from your lost/stolen PC:
Make sure that the file that you are trying to retrieve does actually exist. Ensure that the file name and file extension are correctly entered.
Try to avoid using “*.*” for the wild search criteria or for retrieving all the files at the same time. It is recommended to retrieve one file at a time.
Make sure that you did not enter an incorrect path for the file to be retrieved. If you are not sure about the file’s exact location just type “C:\” (or the relevant hard drive letter) for the path.
If the retrieve request is for a file whose size is larger than the allowed size limit (usually 5 MB), in that case FailSafe application will fail to retrieve the file and will return with “Failed” status.
Please be aware of the “Total Storage” capacity that has been allotted to you for file retrieval purposes (usually 25 MB). If you exceed this limit then you will have to clear off some space by deleting some of the already retrieved files.
Sometimes there might be a firewall on the Agent computer which might have blocked the execution of “Retrieve” module. If it is not allowed to execute then it will not get the job done. Please remember that the file retrieve command will not take effect until the Agent PC is connected to the internet at some point of time. Please check your emails at regular intervals, for any change in retrieve status will be notified to you via email.
Make sure that the file that you are trying to retrieve does actually exist. Ensure that the file name and file extension are correctly entered.
Try to avoid using “*.*” for the wild search criteria or for retrieving all the files at the same time. It is recommended to retrieve one file at a time.
Make sure that you did not enter an incorrect path for the file to be retrieved. If you are not sure about the file’s exact location just type “C:\” (or the relevant hard drive letter) for the path.
If the retrieve request is for a file whose size is larger than the allowed size limit (usually 5 MB), in that case FailSafe application will fail to retrieve the file and will return with “Failed” status.
Please be aware of the “Total Storage” capacity that has been allotted to you for file retrieval purposes (usually 25 MB). If you exceed this limit then you will have to clear off some space by deleting some of the already retrieved files.
Sometimes there might be a firewall on the Agent computer which might have blocked the execution of “Retrieve” module. If it is not allowed to execute then it will not get the job done. Please remember that the file retrieve command will not take effect until the Agent PC is connected to the internet at some point of time. Please check your emails at regular intervals, for any change in retrieve status will be notified to you via email.
Webcam is a very strong feature in the FailSafe application, whose main motive is to help you identify the person currently using your lost/stolen PC. If your webcam is not enabled by default, you can enable the webcam feature manually.
Log into your FailSafe account.
Click on the “Settings” tab.
Click on the “WebCam” icon.
Check the box next to “Enable” (takes a picture each time Windows starts up).
Enter the number (between 1 – 10) for “Keep – last Pictures”.
Select the device name that you want to apply these settings to (only if you have more than one device attached to the same account).
Click “Apply”.
Once enabled, the webcam will click a picture at every reboot and store it in a safe place on your PC in an encrypted format. As soon as that PC is connected to the internet no sooner does it upload the image to server, which can easily be accessed once you log into your FailSafe account.
Log into your FailSafe account.
Click on the “Settings” tab.
Click on the “WebCam” icon.
Check the box next to “Enable” (takes a picture each time Windows starts up).
Enter the number (between 1 – 10) for “Keep – last Pictures”.
Select the device name that you want to apply these settings to (only if you have more than one device attached to the same account).
Click “Apply”.
Once enabled, the webcam will click a picture at every reboot and store it in a safe place on your PC in an encrypted format. As soon as that PC is connected to the internet no sooner does it upload the image to server, which can easily be accessed once you log into your FailSafe account.
No. Merely by changing the hard drive on your laptop, does not deter FailSafe from performing its functions. Since FailSafe is a BIOS enabled application, it will trigger a recovery process in the event of change of hard disc.
The recovery process will automatically install the required Windows components in the background, without the knowledge of the user and get the FailSafe application back up and running. BIOS enabled FailSafe application is able to survive any changes or modifications in terms of Hardware changes and Software changes.
The recovery process will automatically install the required Windows components in the background, without the knowledge of the user and get the FailSafe application back up and running. BIOS enabled FailSafe application is able to survive any changes or modifications in terms of Hardware changes and Software changes.
No. FailSafe only allows you to retrieve the files that are physically present on your lost/stolen PC. Since Outlook address book or emails are usually not stored on your computer (they are stored either on the Exchange Server or your Service Provider’s server) hence, FailSafe will not be able to retrieve something that is not physically present on your PC, unless, you keep a backup file of your emails or address book on your PC.
If you do have a backup file of your address book or emails on your PC, depending on the size of your file, you should be able to retrieve that file for future use.
If you do have a backup file of your address book or emails on your PC, depending on the size of your file, you should be able to retrieve that file for future use.
FailSafe Agent is capable of reporting the following information:
User: User name, computer name.
Location: Public IP address, Local IP address, MAC Address, City, State, Country, ISP provider, Date and Time.
GPS: (Optional) Maps, Longitude, Latitude, City, State, Country, last signal received.
WebCam: (Optional) Date of picture taken, Time Zone, Webcam Driver Name.
Email Alerts: (Optional) Report signal, report file status (retrieve, erase), report disable status, report FailSafe installed/uninstalled.
User: User name, computer name.
Location: Public IP address, Local IP address, MAC Address, City, State, Country, ISP provider, Date and Time.
GPS: (Optional) Maps, Longitude, Latitude, City, State, Country, last signal received.
WebCam: (Optional) Date of picture taken, Time Zone, Webcam Driver Name.
Email Alerts: (Optional) Report signal, report file status (retrieve, erase), report disable status, report FailSafe installed/uninstalled.
At regular intervals the FailSafe Client machine sends the signals to the FailSafe Server. This ensures the Server that everything is fine on the client side and that FailSafe is successfully running. At the same time you would also receive emails at these regular intervals informing you that signals are being received from the client machine.
Even when the FailSafe client machine is not connected to the internet, a signal is sent by Windows components to the BIOS components, making sure that all the FailSafe modules are functioning correctly. If ever, there is an attempt to tamper FailSafe application, BIOS will automatically initiate a recovery process, where it will rebuild the modules that were tampered or disturbed. FailSafe follows a self healing process and is very persistent to be removed from the agent machine.
Even when the FailSafe client machine is not connected to the internet, a signal is sent by Windows components to the BIOS components, making sure that all the FailSafe modules are functioning correctly. If ever, there is an attempt to tamper FailSafe application, BIOS will automatically initiate a recovery process, where it will rebuild the modules that were tampered or disturbed. FailSafe follows a self healing process and is very persistent to be removed from the agent machine.
Unfortunately NOT. In the event of loss or theft of your PC, you always want to retrieve the files first and then disable your PC if required. If you disable your PC in the first place, then it would need an unlock key to re-enable the PC.
No direct communication with the PC would be possible without re-enabling the PC again. So the rule of thumb here would be to first retrieve or erase your files before you disable your PC.
No direct communication with the PC would be possible without re-enabling the PC again. So the rule of thumb here would be to first retrieve or erase your files before you disable your PC.
Yes. FailSafe is not intended to back up all data, and can only retrieve files that are smaller than 5MB, due to bandwidth and storage constraints.
FailSafe allows you to retrieve up to 25MB from the FailSafe server. Before you can recover additional files, you need to download the data from the FailSafe Web Client to your local PC and delete the downloaded information from the server.
FailSafe allows you to retrieve up to 25MB from the FailSafe server. Before you can recover additional files, you need to download the data from the FailSafe Web Client to your local PC and delete the downloaded information from the server.
FailSafe maintains a series of logs stored on the laptop. When it detects the presence of a GPS receiver, it carries out the following actions:
1. Determines if it can establish a GPS location fix. This is based on simultaneous signals from three or more satellites.
2. After establishing a location fix, FailSafe stores that information in the form of GPS coordinates to a temporary log file. As long as the laptop can maintain a GPS location fix, it continues to periodically log its location coordinates.
3. When the laptop reconnects to the Internet, the location information associated with that laptop is immediately and securely transmitted to a FailSafe Server, along with date and time information.
1. Determines if it can establish a GPS location fix. This is based on simultaneous signals from three or more satellites.
2. After establishing a location fix, FailSafe stores that information in the form of GPS coordinates to a temporary log file. As long as the laptop can maintain a GPS location fix, it continues to periodically log its location coordinates.
3. When the laptop reconnects to the Internet, the location information associated with that laptop is immediately and securely transmitted to a FailSafe Server, along with date and time information.
