The report highlighted the security challenges and risks associated with the loss of electronic devices on the public network. Credit: Pixabay

A new research has found that more than 26,000 electronic devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops and drones, went missing across Transport for London’s (TfL) network last year.

The study, which was conducted by UK-based think tank Parliament Street and compiled into a report called ‘Identity Crisis: The Risks of Personal Device Security’, has found 26,272 devices were reported to be lost on tubes, trains and buses, between April 2017 and April this year.

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The report also highlights the security challenges and risks associated with the loss of electronic devices on public transport.

According to the study, TfL has collected 23,453 mobiles as lost property, while laptops were the second-most commonly lost item with a total of 1,155.

“With businesses investing heavily in purchasing and developing growing volumes of applications to improve employee productivity, the security threat posed by lost and stolen devices has increased dramatically.”

Commenting on the findings, CA Technologies UK&I CTO Robert Coleman said: “With businesses investing heavily in purchasing and developing growing volumes of applications to improve employee productivity, the security threat posed by lost and stolen devices has increased dramatically.

“Apps without strong security protection can be an easy route into a goldmine of corporate data. Nobody can prevent mobiles and tablets from being misplaced, but companies can ensure that the applications which reside on these devices are only accessible by the correct privileged users, or that fraudsters cannot exploit them as a backdoor into the business.”

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Within the mobile phone category, a total of 7,394 Apple iPhones were lost, followed by 6,091 Samsung devices and 3,012 Nokia mobiles.

The report said that losing mobile phones carries the highest risk of appropriation of identity, as well as important data loss to businesses.

It also detailed that 1,082 tablet computers, 568 eReaders, 10 drones and four Amazon Echos were lost during the stated period.

Within the laptop category, Apple products topped the list with 337 devices reported missing, followed by 201 Lenovo laptops and 194 HP devices.