Patent ID: 8795388

Claim:
A method, comprising: continuously monitoring, by a theft deterrence agent on a device, for messages including at least one command specifying an action to secure the device, the theft deterrence agent executing on an embedded processor included in the device, the embedded processor operating independently from a central processing unit (CPU) included in the device, the CPU having an operating system configured to operate the device when executing on the CPU, the embedded processor having another operating system that is separate from the operating system and configured to operate the theft deterrence agent when executing on the embedded processor; receiving, by the theft deterrence agent on the device, a message directly from another device via a secure network connection, the message including the at least one command specifying an action to secure the device, the action including one of deleting files, deleting a disk or deleting an encryption key; executing, by the theft deterrence agent on the device, the at least one command in the message to delete files, a disk or an encryption key, the executing including powering on the device to enable the command be executed, upon determination that the device is powered down; and sending, by the theft deterrence agent on the device, an acknowledgement upon completion of executing the at least one command in the message.