Intel finds stolen laptops can be costly

A laptop's value is more than meets the eye. Intel says stolen laptops cost corporate owners more than $100,000 in some cases, in a study announced Wednesday.

The study on notebook security, commissioned by Intel and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, states that laptops lost or stolen in airports, taxis, and hotels around the world cost their corporate owners an average of $49,246 "reflecting the value of the enclosed data above the cost of the PC," Intel said.

Analyzing 138 instances of lost and stolen notebooks, the study based the $49,246 price tag on costs associated with replacement, detection, forensics, data breach, lost intellectual property, lost productivity, and legal, consulting and regulatory expenses, Intel said. Data breach alone represents 80 percent of the cost.

Who owns a missing notebook is important, Intel said. It is not the CEO's computer that is the most valued, but a director or manager, according to the study. A senior executive's notebook is valued at $28,449, while a director or manager's notebook is worth $60,781 and $61,040, respectively.

The average cost if the notebook is discovered missing the same day is $8,950, according to the study. After more than one week, this figure can reach as high as $115,849.

In addition to the obvious need for vigilance, countermeasures include encryption and data-deletion security services. The study found that data encryption makes the most significant difference in the average cost: a lost notebook with an encrypted hard-disk drive is valued at $37,443, compared with $56,165 for a nonencrypted version, the study says.

Intel Anti-Theft Technology is a "poison pill" solution programmed into the PC that can be triggered by internal detection mechanisms or by a remote server to lock a lost or stolen notebook, rendering it completely useless, according to Intel.

[Fridl0r]

whoa. i ate too many cheese toasties

[man290663]

As my maths teacher says: I won't accept your answer without your working out proof, otherwise it looks like you picked the figures out of the air".<br /><br />Oh who am I kidding the did invent these I doubt these figures have any relevance to real costs just an exercise to exaggerate real costs to persuade us to buy another essential optional extra!

[J G M]

I'm with man2 - such an analysis is only as good as your assumptions. <br /> <br />My (uneducated) guess is that 95% of lost/stolen laptops are wiped clean either by the thief or by the "new owner" -- how many smash-and-grab thieves would have the first idea what do do with corporate data? <br /> <br />Even in the cases where somebody does try to use/sell the information, the damage is either done or not done; no amount of cash spent by the company that owns the data is going to fix a "data breach". It's a classic low risk/high impact scenario and reducing those to "average" dollar numbers is fallacious.

[kkohnen]

Bulk drive encryption that requires a strong password in order to boot the machine along with frequent backups will drive this cost to about the cost of a new notebook. <br /> <br />Both Seagate and Hitachi make Govt. certified AES-based encrypting hard drives that have no performance penalty. It's not at all clear to me why we need Intel's anti-theft technology to erase the drive after the fact. <br /> <br />Amusing that the CEO's data isn't as important as others'.

[mikegraham8]

What the heck is this a press release? There is absolutely no relevant data nor is there a point - just buy Intel's Anti-Theft Technology.

[Backstopp]

BackStopp Data loss prevention<br />Backstopp enables organizations and individuals to perform a remote deletion of data files on any lost or stolen PC, Laptop, PDA or Mobile phone utilizing either the GSM (mobile) network, Internet or RFID.