Chromebook security - Lost or Stolen devices

[andrewr147]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am about to configure a group of 12 Chromebooks for a primary school who are considering purchasing a few trolley's if the trial goes well.

 

They are purchasing the management licenses for each device and already have GAFE setup.... My question is whether Google have something similar to Apple's 'Activation Lock'.

 

If someone was to misplace a device (or have one stolen) could someone wipe the device and break my link to the management console? I have an old HP Chromebook without a management license and it was very easy to erase and re-install Chrome OS so I am worried that the school would have no way to locate a device thats been wiped.

 

Any info you could share would be appreciated

[andrewr147]

I have found this https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/1375678#reenrollment

 

Looks like it will be fine providing I select this option.....

 

This setting is set to Force device to re-enroll into this domain after wiping by default. To turn this off, select Device is not forced to re-enroll after wiping. Once enabled, if you don't want a Chrome device to re-enroll in your domain, you need to deprovision the device. Learn more about forced re-enrollment.

[CyberNerd]

in management console > device management > chrome devices > click and set to disabled.

You can display a custom message: return to IT etc.

 

ChromeOs is designed to be wiped - we even suggest the kids do it. As soon as it is wiped it is re-enrolled.

If you set an enrolled device (chrome management > device settings ) force re-enrollment. it won't break the link to the management console, if you wipe it it will re-enrol.

[Arthur]

You can also do this...

 

https://plus.google.com/+FrancoisBeaufort/posts/592AHngF7hn

 

Admins can now place lost or stolen Chrome OS devices in a disabled state right from their web-based management console and display a custom message on the disabled device screens.

 

When a device is disabled, all the user can see when turning on the Chrome device is a screen telling them that it’s been disabled, and your desired contact information of where to return the device as you can see below.

 

If you want to learn how to do so, please read https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/3523633

 

http://i.imgur.com/udo9Od6.png

 

@CyberNerd beat me to it.

[andrewr147]

Thanks for the reply's everyone.... Do you know if I'll have the ability to see the public IP address that the Chromebook is connected to when locked? Meraki has this feature for iPads so I was hoping for the same with the Admin console.

 

I can't wait to get my hands on the devices and enrol them so I can test these things first hand...

[CyberNerd]

Not currently, the best we see is last logged in user and then cross reference that from the ip address listed in the audit trail from google docs. Not much help when the device is locked.

 

there is an option to see the LAN address, again this is pretty useless for looking at locked devices.