New Survey Gives the Numbers behind Laptop Thefts

Study points to low security for laptops, many stolen from within the company's facility

CREDANT Technologies, a data security and encryption software company, recently surveyed business professionals to get a little perspective on how secure laptops are. Perhaps not surprisingly, the numbers were somewhat dismal, pointing to unsecured devices and unsecured data. We'll let the numbers tell the story on this crime that plagues office facilities and business travelers:

29: percentage of all laptops stolen at the office

87: percentage of those laptops that had their emails on the computers

90: percentage of the stolen laptops that contained "sensitive and confidential" information

67: percentage that had other business information stored on their as well

3 out of 4: number of laptops that didn't meet regulatory compliance requirements for data encryption

21: percentage of respondents who used no security measures or data encryption on their laptops

10: percentage that used full-disk data encryption

The survey indicated that among the stolen laptops, some of these devices were locked to desks and secured with cables. One was even glued to the desk but still walked away.