Why does everyone pussyfoot around this issue - just come out and say it: the laptop computer is a corporate liability. Even if the user "behaves", the minute it leaves the building it's exposed to risks which are beyond the capability of all but a security expert to comprehend.
It doesn't help that users have this attitude that, because they can push a power switch and work a mouse/keyboard, they are "PC experts"... that because they have high-speed access at home, it's "just like" what is in the office.
There are, of course, a few corporations which lock the laptops down so that the user cannot do any damage, i.e. the administrator access is limited to IT dept., but the converse is more common: the employees treat the laptop like it's a present to them, with which they can do what they like; as noted in the article, in some cases it becomes the "family computer"... and exposed to the avalanche of malicious spam and web sites.
We all know what happens but nobody seems to want to take the proper steps to prevent the inevitable.
