Today, it's the laptop. And that should send a chill up your spine no matter how hot it's getting this summer.

After all, cell phones -- which are still the second-favorite technology for working vacationers -- are a security problem mainly because it's easy for eavesdroppers to overhear sensitive business information when it's delivered in that cell-phone bellow that some people can't seem to avoid using.

But that's nothing compared with the laptop problem. Laptops are more expensive than cell phones and easier to resell, so they're targeted by thieves in airports, hotels and other places where vacationers throng.

Laptops are also much more likely than cell phones to be stuffed with large quantities of sensitive corporate data. The fact that users don't actually need that data during a week at the beach won't prevent them from taking it along. Wiping it for a week and restoring it later just involves too much effort.

And with so many more users taking work with them on vacation -- and taking along their laptops to do that work -- IT has a problem.