New research has highlighted how Heathrow Airport tops other significant airports in Europe when it comes to laptop loss incidents.

Globally, approximately 800,000 laptop thefts/ losses occur at airports every year. However, at Heathrow, 900 losses per week are taking place – research produced for technology group Dell by the Ponemon Institute has asserted.

The institute carried out a survey in which passengers, security workers and baggage handlers at 113 European/ US airports participated.

Heathrow Passenger Numbers

While – compared to the rest of Europe – Heathrow stood as the worst in terms of laptop losses – it was noted that the hub was busier than any other, with 68,000,000 travellers using it per annum.

Combined, the 24 busiest sites in Europe see around 3,800 laptop losses/ week, with in excess of 50 per cent never seen again.

Behind Heathrow, the next worst were:

• Schiphol (Amsterdam) – 750 laptops lost per week
• Charles de Gaulle (Paris) – 733/ week
• Gatwick (London) – 385/ week

Stateside, around 12,000 laptop losses/ thefts a week were observed – about 1,200 of these in Los Angeles.

Laptop Data Protection

The survey discovered that a significant number of passengers were not safeguarding against potential theft/ loss by implementing data protection measures. Indeed, over 50 per cent of the British passengers assessed said that private data was not protected – a similar figure confessing that the data on there was sole copy.

Lounge, Departure Areas

In respect of areas in the airports most likely to see laptop losses/ thefts taking place, the majority, said the report, occurred in lounge areas or at the departure gates. Over 40 per cent of British travellers, however, related their losses to the moment when they requested that their fellow travellers watch over their laptops.

Ponemon Institute security expert Mike Cobb provided information on a couple of measures that could be put in place in case of loss or theft.

"One of the quick and easy things travellers can do is put their name and contact number on the outside of their laptop”, he said, adding: "Also, they can back up their data - personal or sensitive data should be encrypted.

“It's not an arduous task."

Source – Airport International’s London Reporter

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