The consequences of losing one laptop cost companies $50,000
In one of their studies, the Ponemon Institute in America calculated shocking costs for a company for the loss of a laptop.
On his blog at the Ponemon Institute in America, Mike Spinney talks about the risky way in which companies and their representatives treat their laptops and security in his article “Gambling with Laptop Security”. The results of a study of this conducted with Dell’s support has already been touched upon on our website (Americans lose over 12,000 laptops per week).
Intel funded a new study, which investigated the costs of losing a company laptop, which provided sobering results: The subsequent costs average 50,000 USD each, primarily caused by misuse and replacement of the data stored on the laptop.
Mike Spinney mentioned in his blog that the media coverage discovered this impressive number, however barely mentioned the measures that the affected companies could have employed to avoid such grave consequences. The study did say that by encrypting the data, the average loss would have merely been 40,000 USD. The damages could have been significantly minimized by appropriate measures, which include the consistent usage of a Lost & Found system for company laptops, and even for company cell phones and PDAs. VmarkID is one part of this solution.
The Intel-Ponemon Study demonstrated that the costs of losing a laptop have been drastically underestimated.
- Links:
- Mike Spinney's Blog: Gambling with Laptop Security
- Ponemon-Studie sponsored by Dell:
Airport Insecurity: The Case of Missing & Lost Laptops
- Ponemon-Studie sponsored by Intel:
The Cost of a Lost Laptop