Dell commissioned a study from Dr. Larry Ponemon of the Ponemon Institute to look at the amount of notebooks lost in airports across the nation each week. According to the study 12,000 notebooks are lost weekly.

The study also shows that of the notebooks lost nearly 70% of the computers are never claimed by their owners. The study also shows that 53% of people admit they carry confidential business information on their notebooks and that 65% of those people admit they don’t secure the data.

To remedy the problem of confidential data being lost when a notebook is misplaced Dell is offering Dell ProSupport Mobility Services that can delete sensitive data on notebooks when the notebook is reported lost or stolen.

If you are wondering how so many people can lose laptops each week consider this. Last time I flew I forgot to take my notebook out of my bag and the security lady removed it for scanning. I didn’t realize it was gone until I was at my gate getting ready to get on my flight. Luckily I was able to retrieve it and the security folks told me it happens all the time. I wonder what airports do with all the notebooks that are left behind.

Dell