The telco investigated for snooping on customers for the government in the wake of the September 11 attacks has decided to take advantage of a “call for help” feature on Intel’s vPro technology.
The technology is harmless in itself. It was designed to provide remote assistance support if something goes wrong with the machine.
It sends a “Fast Call for Help” which can allow a nonoperable PC, even with a crashed operating system, to be examined remotely over the Internet.
AT&T said that the remote assistance support that it will provide to SMB customers.
AT&T sais it will use the support with its Tech Support 360 service, which AT&T claims 100,000 businesses have deployed. AT&T will launch the service in the first half of 2010, the companies said.
The problem for many companies is that the service will mean that AT&T will have total access their computers. This requires a high level of trust and a desire to protect its customers at all costs.
This was an attitude which was lacking when the outfit rolled over and took part in the National Security Agency’s secret eavesdropping program.
A lawsuit claimed that AT&T has opened its telecommunications facilities up to the NSA and continues to “to assist the government in its secret surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans.”
