"Business computer theft in 2010" clearly shows that computer equipment theft remains a problem for businesses. Computers are also lost or stolen when employees travel.
The "out of office" category means that the employees interviewed worked from home, a hotel room or at conferences.
This graph from the Ponemon Institute study shows that computers are lost outside of the workplace in 88% of cases (1).
Loss during travel accounts for more than one-third of total losses. This type of loss occurs more commonly within airports. In European airports alone, 4000 computers are forgotten or lost per week (2).
For example, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport recorded the 3rd highest number of laptop thefts. 733 laptops are stolen or lost there every week, following London Heathrow (900 per week) and Amsterdam (750 per week) according to a study by the Ponemon Institute commissioned by the computer manufacturer Dell (2).
Stations and trains are also places where computers are commonly lost or stolen.
“On the Thalys TGV to Brussels, at least 1 computer is stolen every day”, according to Régis Poincelet, GDF Suez Security Director and Vice-President of the Business Security Directors’ Club (CDSE) (3).
These losses are dramatic for businesses, half of professionals contain confidential information on their laptops (on customers, consumers, business activities). This data is therefore even more vulnerable when it leaves the company.
In order to remedy the theft of your computer and office equipment, we have developed a range of anti-theft devices for phones, tablets and PCs.
When travelling for business, it can be complicated to move around with your anti-theft cable. So we have developed a security marking with a unique number that ensures optimal security : Discover Safe Tech's anti-theft computer marking !
We have also written several articles about anti-theft cables for computers, we recommend the following :
- Secure your laptop with PC anti-theft cable in shared spaces
- PC anti-theft cable, how does it work ?
Sources
(1) Ponemon Institute study entitled “The Billion Dollar Lost Laptop Problem”, published 30 September, 2010
(2) Ponemon Institute study entitled “Airport Insecurity: the case of missing & lost laptops”, published 30 June 2008
(3) Le Figaro article “Computers: victims of airports and stations” by Cécilia Gabizon, published 30/01/2010