The Washington Post has an interesting article about the risks that companies face when their employees lose their PDA or Blackberry. The articles reports that some companies are electing to use extra layers of password protection and other security measures to prevent sensitive data from being exposed.

"Worried that sensitive information could ride off in the back of a taxicab or be left in a hotel room, companies are peeling back some of the convenience of mobile devices in favor of extra layers of password protection and other restrictions. Some are installing software on their networks to make it impossible to download corporate information to a portable device or a memory stick, which is a plug-in device that holds data for use on other computers. Wireless providers are developing weapons to use against their own products, like digital "neutron bombs" that can wipe out information from long distance so one misplaced device doesn't translate into corporate disaster."

The report says that 160,000 handheld devices are left in Taxicabs in Chicago per year. Of that number only 50%-60% of them are returned to their owners.

Although in some cases losing sensitive data on a PDA may just be embarassing, in other cases it could be quite serious. "For Public companies or financial firms, a lost device could mean violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires strict controls over disclosure of financial information. For doctors and health care companies, the loss of customer data compromises patient confidentiality, protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act."