Nearly 90 percent of the 300 respondents to a survey, "Laptop Theft: The Internal and External Threats," by tech research firm IDC said that their firms had been victims of laptop theft within the past year. What's more, more than one in five - 21 percent - said that theft levels were increasing. That's of particular concern, given that two-thirds of employees use laptops, according to the survey.

The most common place for the theft to occur? The office, which was cited by 48 percent of US-based survey participants. Conferences were next on the list, at 20 percent, just ahead of meeting rooms at 16 percent.

Overall, companies should expect to lose to theft one out of every 400 laptops, the report notes.

While totally eliminating the incidence of theft isn't realistic, companies can take several relatively painless steps to reduce the risk that their employees' laptops, as well as the info contained on them, wind up where they shouldn't.

1. Watch what goes onto the laptop: Let employees know that they are to put as little info on their laptops as they need to do their jobs. They should be particularly careful about entering sensitive data on their laptops.
2.  Encrypt the info that's on the machine. If someone takes it, at least they'll have to jump through some hoops to get at the data.
3. Keep it in sight. Common sense, but easy to forget. Employees should treat their laptops as they do their wallets or purses. When flying, put it under the seat in front of you, rather than in the overhead bin. If it's packed, it should be at the bottom of the suitcase, California State Polytechnic University recommends.
4. From the Washington DC police: use white-out to paint some sort of identifying mark on the laptop.
5. Require employees to use cable locks to attach their laptops to a desk or other large fixture.
6. Require laptop users to use a password to sign in to their machines.
7. From Computer Weekly: make sure employees know to report laptop losses. That way, management can track thefts to identify any patterns and assess the potential damage from the loss of information.

Among the comments to the Computer Weekly article was this description of one company's laptop policy: employees eligible to receive laptops were given $2,000 to get the model they desired; they could get even snazzier machines, but would have to pick up any costs above $2,000. After two years, the employee got to keep the laptop, and also received another two grand for an updated machine.

However, an employee who lost a laptop was on the hook for the new one. And, he or she would have to wait two years from the date of the loss before the company would pick up the cost of a replacement.

A tough policy,  but one that definitely gives employees an incentive to treat their laptops carefully.