The Cost of Stolen Devices

Earlier this year, Kensington released the results of their research on the cost of stolen / lost laptops, tablets & smartphones. The infographic to the right compiles the research of several companies.

As we saw with the 2009 Intel study, the average value of a lost laptop was almost $50,000. That cost continues to increase as the costs of data breaches increase.

This research shows some startling figures, including:

• 10% of laptops are lost over the lifetime of the device
• Devices are most often stolen at the office (52%) or at a conference (24%)
• 1 laptop is stolen every 53 seconds
• Laptops are most often lost or stolen offsite (47%) or in transit (29%)
• 70 million smartphones are lost each year - only 7% are recovered
• 50% of all mobile device users keep passwords, personal information and credit card info on their device
• 36% of tablets contain confidential work-related information
• The average cost of recovering from a single corporate data breach has risen from $3.3 million in 2005 to $7.2 million in 2010

If a well-implemented security policy can reduce laptop theft by 85%, there's more reason than ever to invest the time in reviewing your practices.

If you want to improve your laptop and mobile device management strategy, we can help. To start, you can get your free BYOD policy guide here and read up on our products here.