Some things never change, and one of those is that if something is valuable someone wants to steal it. The first report of a stolen iPad was published recently in The Huffington Post. I also saw a report of a stolen Amazon Kindle, also in Brooklyn, but in this case snatched out of the owners hands while he was reading on the platform of a Brooklyn subway station.

These and a slowly growing collection of similar reports illustrates the serious problem of physical security for tablets that will become a concern for SMBs that elect to provide slates to employees. Of course theft has always been a reality in business. Desktop computers have disappeared out of offices, in some cases right past guards in the lobby. Business laptops and high-end smartphones have disappeared — and sometimes created public embarrassments for the companies involved when those devices contained sensitive customer information.

But slate appliances are particularly vulnerable because of their size and shape. iPads and e-readers like the Amazon Kindle are difficult to hold securely, particularly when standing, and they don’t fit in pockets or purses, unlike cell phones and PDAs. It is too easy to put a slate down on a counter, the seat of a cab, wherever, and forget it or look around to realize it is gone. It also can be taken right out of your grasp in a snatch-and-grab, or dropped accidentally and broken.

Fortunately these devices cost a third of business laptops. For the company, the bulk of the exposure is the potential loss of sensitive business data. Thus the first rule of mobile computing security is never allow important business data to be stored on mobile devices. All data and large computing tasks should be done in the data center. Slate appliances should handle the display of the results only, with as little as possible cached locally.

Passwords also become vulnerable — a corporate spy can snatch a slate with passwords stored in its browser and use it to access corporate data. The best answer to this problem is to replace passwords with biometric identification. Browsers should be set to terminate connections and remove passwords from their memory after short idle periods — no more than 10 minutes. And all users should be reminded that they need to report the loss of their business slates to the help desk as soon as possible.

Physical security can be improved by providing a case or briefcase with handles and a shoulder strap for users to carry their devices in. While that is certainly not high security, it is better than nothing and allows users to keep control of their devices while keeping both hands free. And they should be encouraged to always be conscious of where their slates are when they are out in public.

Otherwise, IT should budget for replacements and just accept a certain amount of loss.