Airports find 12,250 lost laptops every week

Here’s bad news for any company with employees who travel:

Roughly 637,000 laptops are lost at the country’s airports each year, according to recent study by the Ponemon Institute. That’s about 12,250 every week. About 65% of them are reclaimed, said the survey of airport officials.

That’s scary news, especially since most employer-owned laptops contain some kind of confidential data about the company, its customers, its employees or all three.

What’s the solution? Your company’s IT department can take steps to protect the data so it can’t be accessed by just anyone who comes across the computer.

Also, a little reminder about the basics before employees leave for a trip (i.e., “Don’t forget your laptop at the security checkpoint”) can go a long way.

Comments

4 Comments on Airports find 12,250 lost laptops every week

  1. Ed Kaplan on Tue, 15th Jul 2008 2:07 pm
  2. What happens to the laptops that aren’t claimed?

  3. Lisa on Tue, 15th Jul 2008 3:34 pm
  4. I would also like to know what happens to the unclaimed laptops.

  5. Jeff on Wed, 16th Jul 2008 3:51 pm
  6. Tony Denkins on Wed, 16th Jul 2008 4:23 pm
  7. Go to Scottsboro, AL and visit the Un-Claimed Baggage store. You might be able to buy it back, if your really lucky.