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You’d think that an airport security checkpoint would be one of the safest places for your valuables, right? After all, you’re surround by highly trained and vigilant personnel whose sole responsibility is to protect you and yours from harm.

Think again. It turns out these checkpoints are the prime places that notebook computers go missing . . . and it’s not because the x-ray machine ate them. According to a Macworld article, more than 637,000 notebooks vanish each year in mid-to-large airports, often because of theft.

Close to 10,278 laptops are reported lost every week at 36 of the largest U.S. airports, and 65 percent of those laptops are not reclaimed, the survey said. Around 2,000 laptops are recorded lost at the medium-sized airports, and 69 percent are not reclaimed.

Travelers seem to lack confidence that they will recover lost laptops. About 77 percent of people surveyed said they had no hope of recovering a lost laptop at the airport, with 16 percent saying they wouldn’t do anything if they lost their laptop during business travel. About 53 percent said that laptops contain confidential company information, with 65 percent taking no steps to protect the information.

The survey, taken by the Ponemon Institute at the behest of Dell, reiterates what has been known for a while — that thieves lurk at security checkpoints, counting on the confusion that often occurs as people struggle to collect their belongings after going through the x-ray scanner.

But help may be on the way. The New York Times reports that the Transportation Safety Administration has OK’ed the use of new notebook cases that don’t require computers to be removed before scanning. The designs use material that’s easy to see through, and don’t include pockets that can hold other electronics that can be confusing to screeners trying to discern what’s inside.

Two companies are making the cases — Pathfinder Luggage and Targus:

Ron Davis, the executive vice president of Pathfinder Luggage, said that his company had just started producing its two new cases at a plant in the Philippines. He said both had been tested at checkpoints to ensure that they met government specifications.

“They don’t want anything obscuring the view of the laptop,” he said. “In our case, the material is nylon and foam, and the X-ray machine will see right through that.”

Pathfinder is making two models but plans others. One is a briefcase in which the attached laptop holder is exposed when the case is unzipped. The other is a wheeled carry-on with a removable laptop case.

Mr. Davis estimated that the briefcase version would sell for $100 to $150 and the wheeled version for $150 to $200.

Targus, the largest maker of cases for laptops and notebook computers, is about to begin production at factories in China of four new models of checkpoint-compatible bags, said Al Giazzon, the vice president for marketing.

“We’ve got to produce a lot of them,” he said. “We’re currently scheduled for a late September or early October delivery of our first bags.”

Among the bags Targus is producing is a backpack design. Mr. Giazzon said. He said that retailers were already clamoring for the bags, which will cost from $39 for a basic model to about $100 “for our corporate series, for heavy-duty travelers.”

Will this help, or just give thieves a handle they can grab as they make off with your notebook?