55,000 mobile phones left in London cabs

Mis-placed phones puts firms at security risk

The scale of the security risk posed by lost corporate mobiles has been highlighted in a new report which found that 55,000 mobile phones were left in London taxis in the past six months alone.

The survey of over 2,000 taxi drivers from 11 major cities worldwide found that Londoners were also guilty of leaving almost 5,000 pocket PCs, over 3,000 laptops and nearly 1,000 USB sticks in the back of licensed cabs. London, in fact, had the most forgetful commuters (or most honest taxi drivers) of all the cities surveyed, topping the list for the number of lost devices compared with cities such as Sydney, Stockholm, San Francisco and Washington.

Encryption software specialist Pointsec, which commissioned the survey, said the findings highlighted the need for business users to not only be more vigilant when travelling, but also back up, encrypt and password-protect data held on mobile devices.

"With the new breed of phones being able to store 4GB, users need to be aware of the amount of power and data they are literally carrying around in their hands," said Peter Larsson, chief executive of Pointsec, in a statement. "If your device falls into the wrong hands, take a moment to think about how it could affect your livelihood, especially if it has not been properly secured."