Patent attributes
This document relates to securing ownership of devices to particular users when the devices are shipped directly from an original equipment manufacturer in order to prevent malicious use of devices that are lost or stolen. A purchaser may purchase a device from an original equipment manufacturer, and as part of the purchasing process, may provide ownership information for the device, which may include a user identifier and an identity provider. The ownership data can be written to firmware, and upon powering on of the device, the device can request a user identifier, which is then validated by the identity provider before allowing operating systems operations to continue on the device.