If an employee loses a computer, say a laptop at the airport--someone filches his bag while he's dealing with his shoes--you may be excused for thinking that your company's only cost is the replacement of that device. But, there are additional costs you may not be thinking of. For example, if the contents of the computer were not protected with the use of data encryption software like AlertBoot, you may be facing costs associated with a data breach.
Costs associated with a lost computer could be numerous, depending on what, and under which circumstances, it was lost.
If a brand new computer was stolen from a retail store, the only cost is the wholesale price, a portion of the shipping fees, and the time it took to stock it. Pretty much the actual cost.
But, if it was a computer that was being actively used prior to the loss, it could mean that the loss of the computer constitutes a data breach. In such a case, the additional cost to the replacement of the machine could range from $0 (no sensitive data whatsoever on that machine) to offers of credit monitoring services and defense against lawsuits, for which a company could mount a successful defense (and yet, one assumes the lawyers won't come cheap).
And that's just from the data breach alone. What about the cost of lost productivity? How long will it take before your guy will be up and running? Chances are that all of his data and required software were on that computer. Just issuing a replacement machine won't do (which is what people tend to first think of when considering the costs of a lost computer). Hopefully, your employee backed up his data on a regular basis.
Or, you could have even more people out of action. For example, you could have an entire division waiting for that data. It could be that the employee was transporting top secret information for a project which requires an employee to transport it personally (UPS and FedEx lose packages once in a while, too). In that case, you've got an entire division twiddling its thumbs, and the delay will most likely cascade down the entire project.
The only way to get rid of these hidden costs is to prevent them from happening in the first place. In order to prevent a data breach from happening, ensure that sensitive information is protected using encryption software.
And instead of mailing or transporting sensitive data, your company may want to think about sending it in encrypted format. E-mail will be fine. Just make sure that the passwords for decrypting the information is not sent via e-mail as well. For example, send that file and then call the recipient. Chances are, the hacker who's tapping your e-mail is not tapping your phone, and vice-versa.