London: UK companies and institutions today are not covered from hardware
theft during the response time of their security personnel. This has led to an alarming theftrate
for electronic equipment in the UK.
The exploding growth in use of portable computers, now accounting for 2/3 of the entire PC sales,
has led to a startling increase in snatch and grab theft and burglary rates. Even companies or public
institutions, that already have or have added alarm systems or CCTV, have been unable to stop
thieves from removing laptops, PC's, projectors and TV 's from the secured areas. The main
weakness today is the 5 to 20 minute response time of the security personnel, after an alarm is
triggered or the thief is spotted on CCTV. In this short time-span the thieves often get away with
tens of thousands of pounds worth of equipment.
According to IDC, more than 90% of all companies and institutions have already suffered from
laptop loss. Even hardware that is locked in cabinets or physically secured gets stolen.
Unfortunately, insurance doesn’t help much either, as it costs more than 5 times the price of the
hardware itself to replace a stolen computer (AEA). In addition comes the fines for losing sensitive
personal data. According to Xpres Security Systems, the reason for the high losses is that the
security solutions in the UK, that have been available until now, are insufficient.
“If you wish to protect an object like a computer or projector, it will never be sufficient to secure the
area around it with alarms or CCTV, you have to secure each object itself.”, said Xpres Security
Systems managing director Knut Foseide. Xpres offers unique solutions which feature a >100 dB
alarm that locks into the equipment being protected, with optional wireless forwarding to any
mobile or existing alarm system. -“Thieves are not so irrational that they try to run away with an
ear piercing alarm under their arm”, Foseide added.
Statistics of Xpres' 3000 first units installed in Scandinavia proved that Xpres' products yield a loss
percentage of 0,03% per year only. This was measured in high-risk areas like hospitals, schools and
large companies in big cities. “Physical security is the first and most profound step in any sensible
security strategy. We now expect that Xpres' products will be established as the default choice of
hardware protection throughout the UK.”, Foseide concludes.