I just read last week that the Transport Security Administration, the people responsible for protecting us when we fly, admitted that thieves managed to steal two laptops contain personal records of thousands of individuals. Less than 24 hours later, Houston staffing company Administaff admitted that thieves stole a laptop containing the personal records of nearly 160,000 employees. And the next day after that, Home Depot announced that thieves made off with another laptop containing the personal records of 10,000 employees. Sound like a trend?

No matter how you slice it, identity theft continues to be a worldwide problem. Your personal information needs protection all the time, because the slightest slip-up can provide ID thieves with the opening they need.

What do I mean? Try this one … did you hear about the college professor who took his laptop on vacation to South Africa, only to have it stolen? You’d think his school could replace it, right? That’s probably true, but the professor’s computer contained the Social Security numbers of more than 8,000 unfortunate students who were enrolled in his classes. What was he thinking? Beyond that, has he been so busy correcting papers that he missed the proliferation of identity theft over the last five years?

Our “nutty professor” isn’t the only one who has managed to turn a laptop into a lottery win for identity thieves. Do you remember, for example, the big scandal over the Veterans Administration last year? When an opportunistic ID thief managed to get his mitts on the personal records of more than 26 million veterans? What a payoff, huh!?

And that’s really just half the story. It turns out that all that information was stored — unsecured — on a laptop that a government employee took home every night. You guessed it … that computer containing those 26 million or so records became the property of a lucky burglar.

Let’s face facts. Laptops are walking data thefts just waiting to happen. Just about everyone I know uses a laptop for work, carries it with them and uses it at every opportunity — from Starbucks to every conceivable mode of public transport.

You’d think people would realize that most laptops contain at least some sensitive information — if not confidential company files, then at least their own personal information. Yet, if I mention the word “encryption” to most people, I usually get a blank stare or a stock response like, “Yeah, IT probably took care of that stuff.” Translated, that means IT was supposed to take care of “that stuff” but may not have found time.

Another thing that can really mess up your day and your personal information is identity theft activity from “shoulder surfers” and the like. You know them — those clever and resourceful rip-off artists who would love to be able to pay five years’ worth of rent or buy a cool, new car using the personal information you often drip your latte onto.

It’s true. As you swig down your third White Chocolate Mucho Macho Mocha Frappuccino of the day, you can bet there’s probably more than a couple of eyes glancing longingly at your laptop, planning some sort of attack on your personal information.

And even if they can’t score that big using your personal information, swiping your laptop itself will probably still pay for something they want but didn’t earn.

So if you’re starting to get the picture, keep an eye on the guy sitting next to you — yeah, that guy who looks like he’s glued to his own laptop, but is actually sneaking the occasional peak at yours. It’s not difficult, really. He’s probably using the same free and completely unsecured wi-fi access you’re using to surf the Internet, to read your emails, download your personnel files, and copy the password you just used to check your bank account.

Not to sound like too much of a “smart guy,” but if you don’t heed these warnings, it’ll be your head that needs to be checked! Let’s try to end this right here. Attention out there: “Stop doing stupid things with laptops.” If you really value the information you use every day, don’t let it become a walking advertisement for thieves and hackers. If you must store personal and confidential information on your laptop, invest in any one of the many free or affordable data encryption programs. Perhaps their biggest upside is that it will make any stolen information completely useless to an identity thief.

And if the laptop itself is more valuable to you than the information on it, “LoJack” it. The same technology that can help you recover your car from thieves can also help you recover a stolen laptop. With many of these personal information protection programs, as soon as someone tries to connect your laptop to any kind of network, your own big brother network can detect and locate your laptop automatically. Your network can even remove any sensitive files you had stored there. This protection system sends your laptop’s coordinates directly to the police, allowing them to show up right at any would-be laptop-swiping ID thief’s door.

And if you’re worried about the cost, just try thinking in these terms: Many of these services can be secured for a full year for about as much as you spend on coffee in a month. How’s that for money well spent?