A laptop is stolen about every 53 seconds, and the average cost of the loss totals $49,000, according to Kensington Computer Products Group. Replacing the devices amounts to just 3 percent of that cost, while myriad data loss-related expenses amount to 80 percent, the company claimed in a recent blog post.

The Kensington post illustrates recent trends in device loss and theft via an infographic. One-tenth of all laptops are stolen or lost over the course of their life. More than half of all stolen laptops are taken from the workplace, while approximately one-fourth are stolen at conferences.  The education, research, health and pharmaceutical sectors are most affected.

Smartphones, in contrast, mostly go missing outside of the workplace, Kensington found. Only 7 percent of them are ever recovered, and most don't have mobile security features activated.

Kensington recommends five best practices to protect mobile devices and the data they carry:

• Implement a mobile security policy
• Invest in physical security
• Never leave devices logged into networks, email or websites
• Encrypt all data and secure networks
• Authenticate users and always know who has access

For more:
- see the Kensington infographic

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