UPI's Gene Koprowski takes a look today at research which shows that 65 percent of Americans lost their cell phones last year -- totaling $600 milion in losses.

"It's causing anxiety in the IT departments of many major corporations, because, these days, mobile phones are so powerful that most of them are mini-PCs, containing customer information, phone numbers and pricing schedules," Koprowski writes.

Among the tactics that companies are using to secure data on mobile devices is Oasys' Online Locker, which keeps all content stored securely online so it can be retrieved even if the device is lost.

Still, as Koprowski notes, that can become just another place to hack into. "So storage companies like Idealstor are developing removable, encrypted hard drives for pocket PCs and PDAs to make sure the data is concealed all the time from criminals," he writes.

And even if you don't lose your phone, it can still be attacked by mobile viruses like Skulls and Duts -- a fast-growing problem that's expected to explode over the next year or so, according to mobile application developer SavaJe Technologies. The company warns that current mobile platforms simply aren't ready to deal with viruses. "The impending 'cell hell' has renewed the industry's call for a new kind of mobile platform," a company spokesperson says.