The FBI Computer Crime Security Survey1 found that the average theft of a laptop from a business cost that business $31,975, outstripping the value of the IT asset itself by an order of magnitude. Laptops and other mobile, easily transported IT assets are particularly vulnerable to opportunists. Due to the increasing ubiquity of these devices in our lives, demand, and thus incidences of theft, are only increasing. More than 1 in 10 laptops are destined to be stolen within their lifetime.
This is a staggering amount of loss for an already taught IT budget to absorb, and no known measure can secure every mobile IT asset. But smart measures can be taken to make it as hard as possible for thieves to walk off with your firm’s materials, and strategies can be implemented to maximize the probability of property recovery in the event that a theft does occur. Barcode computers and laptops to provide a basic anti theft measure, and save on inventory costs due to shrinkage.
