As recent research shows, 25% of employees have lost important assets relating to their job. But is there more than just the cost of replacement? With mobile phones and memory sticks being two of the main assets lost or stolen, what are the other implications for businesses and what effect does this have on them and other employees?
Costs of an employee losing or having their business laptop or mobile phone stolen would equate to the potential insurance claim excess and increased premiums, or the business itself taking the hit for replacement.
Research by www.seareach.plc.uk suggests that 25% of employees have lost important assets relating to their job, the most common items lost or stolen being:
- Mobile phones – 36%. Cost to replace £550
- Memory sticks – 23%. Cost to replace £8.50
- Tablets – 19%. Cost to replace £429
- Laptops – 14%. Cost to replace £249
- Power packs or chargers – 8%. Cost to replace £15
However there are further reaching consequences for businesses, beyond replacement items. Let’s look at how the impacts add up:
- Data only stored on laptop, mobile and tablet devices.
- Loss of productivity whilst replacement sorted.
- Time spent recovering data or re-creating lost project data.
- Investigation and claim.
- Cyber security risks.
- Security and data breach.
- Company-wide password reset and security updates.
- Potential fines for loss of confidential data.
- Potential risk of damaging reputation.
- Increased staff training
Speaking about the study, Stuart Jailler at Seareach commented:
“Data is a valuable resource for a business that is facing tougher regulations for protecting itself, so although it might be simple to replace a lost or stolen laptop, we can see the consequences are further reaching. Ensuring your devices are regularly backed up, have anti-theft features enabled, and are properly encrypted will help reduce loss of data and protect confidential information stored on them.
He added:
“We also advise asset tracking for portable equipment such as laptops and tablets, mobile phones and memory sticks, which will help track and trace items if they are lost or stolen and make claims easier to process. Asset labels help with stock control and whether items need or are due to be replaced. They can also prevent people tampering with components and deter theft. For many businesses, data is their biggest asset and protecting their technology will help to keep it safe.”
The opinions expressed in this post belong to the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Information Security Buzz.