Don't let luggage get away

Mike Maciag

Laptops are likely to be lost at busy airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson. How likely is in statistical dispute.

Whether it's a security checkpoint or a dining lounge, airports are filled with places to lose a laptop.

As the summer travel season heats up, increased traffic at airports could make it difficult for regular business travelers to hang on to their laptops and the confidential information they often contain.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials said 53 incident reports of missing or stolen laptops were filed this year to July 6. Another 194 found laptops were turned in to the airport's lost and found department from May 1 to Monday, only nine of which were unclaimed, according to terminal operations manager Roy Springer.

Herschel Grangent, media relations officer for Hartsfield-Jackson, said some of the more high-risk areas for losing laptops are atriums and security checkpoints.

"It's a lot of hustle and bustle, and it's a fast-paced environment," he said.

Springer also said most laptops turned in were lost at security checkpoints by business travelers.

A recent study by the Ponemon Institute, a for-profit information-management research firm based in Traverse City, Mich., claims a staggering 12,000 laptops are lost, missing or stolen at airports nationwide each week. An estimated 450 of those laptops are from travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson every week, tied for eighth highest in the country.

However, the study's alarming figures and unconventional data-collecting techniques have drawn the ire of airport officials, who dispute the report's findings. "I think the credibility of the methodology is really questionable," said Orzy Theus, public information manager for the airport.

But Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, stands by the results.

The study, commissioned by Dell, computed the totals using confidential interviews with 49 rank-and-file Hartsfield-Jackson employees working in locations where laptops could be lost .

The reason for the huge difference between his figures and the airport's, Ponemon said, is that recovered laptops —- an estimated 85 percent of those in the study —- and many other incidents are often not reflected in official statistics.

Even so, he estimated 3,500 laptops are still not retrieved at Hartsfield-Jackson each year.

Airport employee Theus said documented cases should have been used to determine the report's figures.

"Their numbers are wrong," Theus said. "I don't have a problem with them [Dell] promoting their brand, but I don't want them to do it at the expense of us in the airline industry."

Other airports reported numbers comparable to those at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport spokesman Michael Conway said about 24 laptops per week are returned to the airport's lost-and-found department, while the study estimated 575 were lost, missing or stolen per week.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 276 laptops were turned into the airport's lost and found last year, 269 of which were returned, according to the Washington Airports Authority.

Although laptops are expensive, losing the data they contain can be more costly to a business.

More than half of business travelers responding to another survey for the Ponemon Institute study had confidential information stored on their computers, but only 65 percent were taking measures to protect it.

To protect computer data, The National Business Travel Association advises travelers to back it up and ensure sensitive files are encrypted.

The association also recommends purchasing a non-black laptop case or placing a large sticker on the bag to distinguish it from others.

Jon Allen, spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, said passengers should keep items together at security checkpoints instead of separating them. Left-behind luggage is taken to a central location before ending up in the lost and found department, Allen said.

If travelers lose laptops, Grangent said they should file a report. Investigators often check pawn shops after following up with victims, but most cases are not solved. "It's one of those situations where unless it's documented by a serial number and is pawned, it's kind of hard to find," Grangent said.

CHARLES W. JONES / Staff

BUSINESS AIR TRAVELERS' LAPTOP LOSSES

A Ponemon Institute study consisting of confidential interviews

with airport employees found that about 12,000 laptops are lost,

missing or stolen from U.S. airports each week. Airport officials

and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration dispute the

numbers, citing the study's unusual methodology.

Los Angeles International.....1,200

Miami International...........1,000

John F. Kennedy International...900

Chicago O'Hare International....825

Newark Liberty International....750

New York La Guardia.............630

Detroit Metropolitan

Wayne County....................575

Ronald Reagan

Washington National.............450

Hartsfield-Jackson

Atlanta International...........450

Washington Dulles

International...................400

Sources: Dell, Ponemon Institute