The Frightening Truth:
Laptops have become one of those devices that is quickly going, and in some cases, already quickly gone from something that only techies or high level business people owned to something that even a poor college student finds a way to afford. This is simply that our lives become wrapped around these objects. Think of the cell phone. Ten to 15 years ago it was again only the techies or important business people that owned a cell phone. Now even elementary school kids have them so parents can be in constant contact when necessary.
We all have had the moment when we though we had misplaced our cell phone. Imagine losing your laptop. Not only is it a fairly significant expense, but think of the data you have on there. You probably keep a file with account numbers, you have your family pictures stored there, maybe music, movies. The list is a long one and an important one.
Therefore, make sure you follow the recommendations in this article on how to protect your laptop.
The convenience of the laptop is obvious. The computing power and versatility are equivalent to most desktop computers. With the advent of wi-fi we can be on the internet almost anywhere and be emailing, chatting, writing, surfing the net or shopping, all anywhere in the world.
Here are some daunting statistics for laptop loss from 2008:
Relevant Data Loss and Data Breach Statistics
* 1 in 10 …laptop computers will be stolen within the first 12 months of purchase.
* 97% …of lost and stolen notebooks are never recovered.
* 50% …of organizations reported laptop theft.
* every 43 seconds …a computer is reported stolen.
* every 3 days … an information security breach is reported in the U.S.
* 82% …of all PC’s will be mobile devices by 2008, increasing 4 times as fast as PCs.
* 4,425 …laptops reported left behind in Chicago taxis during a six month period.
* 56 million …individuals affected by significant U.S. data security breaches, 2005.
* 1 billion …PC users expected by 2010, up from 660-670 million today. dell i3 11th generation laptop
* 57% …of corporate crimes are linked to stolen laptops
How Much Does Laptop Loss Cost?:
That completely depends on how you look at it and who is doing the looking….
Personal Laptop:
The actual cost here is the cost of the laptop and if stolen while in the laptop bag (most often this is the case) then you’ve lost all your accessories as well. Not to mention possibly your wallet, MP3 player, passport (eek!). Obviously the actual cost of items and the intangible loss of items such as wallets, all your stored music, your passport, etc. are vastly different.
Business or Corporate Laptop:
Here the intangible costs can be astronomical. We have heard it on the news more than once and most of us have had it hit us directly with someone in the corporate world losing one or more laptops with critical customer data on it. The cost the hardware is only about $4000, the information carried upon it was could be worth millions..