New research shows 800,000 laptops are lost or stolen each year around the world.
Each week 900 laptops go missing from Heathrow ” half of which are never recovered, according to new research published today.
But this could be largely avoided if owners put external labels on them to identify them, researchers found.
IT giant Dell commissioned the independent privacy management company, the Ponemon Institute, to conduct research between December 2007 and July 2008. The institute interviewed over 5,000 business travellers and airport staff working in security, baggage and lost and found ” 480 of whom were from the UK.
The survey covered 24 international airports in 15 countries and 106 commercial airports in the US. Respondents were asked how well they protect their data while travelling.
800,000 laptops go missing each year
The survey showed each year around the world 800,000 laptops are lost or stolen. In Europe, 3,800 go missing each week from the continent”s 24 busiest commercial airports, and 51 per cent are never found.
Each week, 750 passengers travelling through Amsterdam lose their laptops, compared with 733 at Charles de Gaulle, and 385 at Gatwick.
The survey highlights a worrying statistic: 65 per cent of business travellers don”t know how to protect their confidential data, which can include clients” personal information, and 40 per cent have not backed up their laptop”s data elsewhere.
Careless passengers
Yet this could be avoided: 46 per cent of laptops go missing at the departure gates, passengers clubs and lounges, so the losses are a result of passengers being careless rather than inefficient airlines. A similar amount of passengers don”t bother finding out how secure an airport”s wireless connection is before using it.
According to Mike Cobb, the UK”s security expert from the Ponemon Institute, business travellers can take simple steps to improve the safety of their laptops while in transit.
Safety steps
”One of the quick and easy things business travellers can do is put their name and contact number on the outside of their laptop. The other thing is to make sure you only take the data you need; you only need the data for the clients you”re going to see. Also back up your data; personal data should be encrypted. It”s important for anybody carrying sensitive data to protect it. It”s not an arduous task to do. If business travellers allowed themselves a bit more time so they”re not so distracted, they”re fairly straight-forward, low cost solutions,” he said.
As well as offering stickers for the outside of a laptop, which are difficult to remove, Dell has introduced new software to protect data stored on laptops. The services can be bought as individual pieces of software, depending on the needs of the business traveller.
For travellers who invest in a tracking and recovery service, for example, their stolen laptop can be tracked by the Dell recovery team and police once it is connected to the internet. The Dell team finds out the computer”s unique IP address and gets a GPS signal, which tracks the computer”s location.
Other services include the Remote Data Delete, which enables travellers to delete confidential data remotely; and, once the data is removed, it can”t be retrieved from a third party.
Dell also offers a service which recovers data from a damaged hard drive, as well as a complete care package, so users can have their laptops repaired or replaced in case of theft, spills or if they are damaged when dropped.
Prices start from ”15 a year or ”40 for three years for the tracking and recovery service, ”20 a year or ”65 for three years for this service combined with the software which deletes data, and ”30 a year or ”40 for three years for the service which recovers damaged hard drives.
For more information, click here.
Sarah Riches