Dude, Where's My Laptop?

We all know the airport security drill: Shoes off, laptop into a bin, and then watch your belongings roll along the conveyor belt as you pass through security.

It's easy to lose track of your stuff as the TSA people watch your every move.

According to a study by the Ponemon Institute, every week, more than 10,000 laptops are reported lost at the 36 largest airports in the US alone. What's worse is that 65 percent of the lost computers are not reclaimed.

The problem is pretty bad at smaller US airports too. The study reports that 2,000 laptops are lost in those airports, with almost 70 percent remaining unclaimed. The reason for the high number of unclaimed computers: 77 percent of people surveyed believed they had "no hope" of recovering a lost computer at the airport.

If the number of unclaimed computers is truly this high, more than 400,000 laptops are unclaimed every year. What the heck are airport managers doing with all of those laptops?

The reminder from the study is to protect your laptop when traveling. Keep your eyes open and don't get distracted by the security screening process.

Comments

[Jerry Bricker]

My usual strategy is to put my laptop in the first bin I send through the scanner then pick it up first and hang on to it until the other, not so important stuff, comes after. If the line is really slow I send the laptop through last but still grab it first after I clear the body scan.