23K Android devices lost or stolen each month
dubai — With the holiday season well on its way, experts at Kaspersky Lab have cautioned travellers and residents to keep better track of their devices, especially in light of the fact that over 23,000 Android devices are being reported lost or stolen every month.
A study by Kaspersky Lab has revealed that overall, nine per cent of people in the UAE have lost a device or had one stolen. That also applies to four per cent of people around the world. What’s more, for 57 per cent of those people, it’s Android devices that were affected, followed by laptop computers at 29 per cent, and Apple iPhones at 21 per cent. A lost device can also prove costly to a person’s wallet, with users paying up to $485 on average for a replacement.
“These figures indicate the scale at which devices are going missing – especially as the 23,000 figure only tells us about Android devices with the Kaspersky Lab Anti-Theft feature switched on,” said Dmitry Aleshin, VP for Product Marketing at Kaspersky Lab. “At this time of year, it’s important to consider how to safeguard devices from danger.”
It is no secret that travellers document their adventures by taking lots of photos and videos on their vacations. In fact, according to Kaspersky Lab’s consumer research, 13 per cent of users in the UAE say that photos and videos of their travel are the most important forms of data on their devices, with this type of data trumping all others. However, in additional research by the company, 22 per cent said that if they lost their devices, or had them stolen, they would never be able to replace those precious holiday photos.
With photos of travel being rated the most important to users, out of all other data stored on their devices, Kaspersky Lab is today warning people to treat their precious holiday snaps with care. With simple and effective anti-theft tools available, consumers now have the chance to turn on their device’s alarm if it gets lost, lock and locate their device remotely, or even take a secret mugshot of the culprit if their device has been stolen.