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Lost property in the backseat
It is common belief that hackers and phishers are the most dangerous threat for private data security and company networks. In reality, careless users of mobile devices can be much more harmful. Especially, when they are using public transport, a plane, or a taxi. A global survey of 900 taxi drivers shows that thousands of mobile phones, Pocket PCs and laptops are forgotten in taxis every day. Among the victims are celebrities like British fashion designer Jemima Khan, who had left her iPod, mobile phone, and purse in a London cab. She was not the only one: according to the survey by the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association and mobile security firm Pointsec.
Forgetful taxi passengers The international survey was carried out in nine major cities, including Sydney, Helsinki, Oslo, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Chicago, and London. Although the general trend was the same, there were striking differences. Londoners head the charts when it comes to forgetting laptops. More than double the number of laptops were left in London taxis compared with other cities. The Danes are the front-runners in forgetting their mobile phones. They are seven times more likely to forget their mobile in a taxi than the Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes. Chicago leads the charts in the category of Pocket PCs. There were 21,460 of them left behind in the six-month period. Taxis were not the only places where absent-minded users left their mobile devices. In London, for example, the Underground and buses are popular places for the oblivious. In 2004, there were 10,614 lost mobile phones and 5,718 other electronic devices including cameras and laptops. However, according to another Pointsec study, the most notorious place for losing a mobile device is still the taxi with a share of 40 percent, followed by bars, restaurants and nightclubs with 20 percent.
Unprotected PDAs A PDA Usage Survey commissioned by Pointsec in 2003 has found that PDA owners commonly download the entire contents of their personal and business lives onto their handheld computers – with many leaving the information unencrypted and without password protection. Sensitive information commonly stored unprotected on PDAs includes corporate information, bank accounts, credit cards, social security numbers, inland revenue information, business and personal names and addresses.
Some of those who had lost their PDA, were truly
shocked. One comment was: “I thought I had lost my right arm and when I
found it [The PDA – the editor] two days later, all was calm and normal
again.” Another one said: “I had to warn all my friends that their addresses
were on there, especially the single females who lived nearest the bar from
where the PDA was stolen.”
Happy end for Ms Khan Globally, an average of 80% of taxi passengers were reunited with their mobile phones and 96% with their Pocket PCs and Laptops - with the cab drivers in almost all cases tracking down their owners. However, the case was very different in Australia, with only 46% of laid-back passengers bothering to reclaim their mobiles and only 18% ever being reunited with their laptops. Among the lucky people who got their mobile devices back was also Ms Khan. The female taxi driver of Ms Kahn found her belongings. When the cabbie got the call to return the items to Ms Khan's friend, she was delighted to discover the friend was actor Hugh Grant. Please send us your comments on this article. |
