1. An article of manufacture, comprising: a tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; a plurality of programming instructions stored in the storage medium, wherein, in response to execution of the instructions by a device, the programming instructions are configured to cause the device to perform operations including: receiving, by a manageability engine of the device, a notification indicative of an availability of a network connection from a theft-deterrence agent operated by a processor of the device in an application execution environment operated by the processor, wherein the manageability engine resides on a chipset of the device and is configured to operate concurrently with the theft-deterrence agent, outside the application execution environment, and independently from the processor; periodically obtaining, by the manageability engine, via the network connection, a theft status of the device from a theft-deterrence server remotely disposed from the device in response to said receiving of the notification, wherein periodically obtaining includes transmitting a request message, wherein the request message includes: the theft status currently held by the manageability engine; a current timer value, at expiration of which, the manageability engine is configured to enforce the theft-deterrence policy on the device; and at least one of a current platform disable priority value, a current encrypted data disable priority value, and a current theft-deterrence server rendezvous priority value; and enforcing, by the manageability engine, a theft-deterrence policy on the device based on the theft status of the device.