Laptop theft within organisations: the hidden threat

It’s no secret – well at least not a well kept one – laptop theft within organisations is

very common.

Around 90% of all organisations are affected and of these, 56% report the

incident resulted in data breach.

Industry figures show that as many as one in every ten laptops will be stolen during their very brief lives: the average life of a

laptop is just three years.

If you take the time to think about all the personal data stored on your laptop, the

consequences of losing it are highly damaging.

There are the costs to replace the data, to convince your customers to stay with you

after you’ve potentially leaked their personal information, and the cost of down time

There’s also the amount you’ll be splashing out on PR to hush up the incident!

So why risk it?

Below are the top 7 excuses your colleagues will give to justify their actions:

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

1. We were burgled

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

2. I was at a conference, I turned my back to talk to someone and, pow, it was gone

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

3. I was only away for a minute

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

4. I left it in the car

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

5. I thought it would be safe

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

6. I asked the person next to me to watch my stuff – he looked really trustworthy

The top seven excuses your colleagues will use are:

7. It was on my desk – then it was gone

Considering that the number one reason for data breach is laptop or

notebook theft, none of these reasons is good enough.

Most theft is

Opportunistic

Once reformatted, stolen laptops are difficult to spot

Most laptops - 58% - are stolen from work

Thieves usually steal laptops for their resale value rather than for the data

Laptops are easy to sell anonymously over the internet

If any if the excuses you’ve heard are not in the list, let us know in the comments below!

Prevent your organisation from becoming one of these statistics by learning more about

Laptop physical security in our whitepaper.

It contains everything you need to know about laptop theft and how to prevent it!

Image credit

Slide 2: http://westernthm.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/the-messianic-secret-early-fabrication-or-historical-reality/

Slide 6: http://www.propertynewsplanet.com/2011/05/04/million-pound-home-sales-soar-in-the-uk/

Slide 9 http://weirdworldwebnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/bank-employee-nabs-robber-but-loses-job.htmlSlide 10: http://triutami1359.blogspot.com/Slide 11: http://www.flickr.com/photos/diseno3d/3865108573/#/photos/diseno3d/3865108573/lightbox/Slide 12: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rbpdesigner/4096002087/#/photos/rbpdesigner/4096002087/lightbox/Slide 13: http://themensgiftguide.com/blog/?p=355Slide 14: http://www.protouchblog.co.uk/2009/05/self-service-kiosks-help-or-hindrance-to-the-industry/Slide 15: http://www.hodson-office.co.uk/