The survey discovered that of those people who do work in bed, 57% do so for between two and six hours every week. The survey also found that the majority of their bed companions found their partners’ obsession with their mobiles ‘a very annoying habit’. A staggering 8% of people admitted that they spend more time on their mobile devices during the evening than talking to their partners.
The survey into Laptop use in bed and the security implications was conducted amongst 300 city workers who were interviewed to determine whether the UK has become a nation of work obsessed, laptop dependent, key tappers and to highlight the security implications of unsecured mobile devices.
Almost half the respondents (44%) admitted they are holding important work documents on their mobile devices of which 54% were not adequately secured with encryption. This will sound alarm bells for the many inhouse IT departments who are tasked with trying to secure an ever increasing mobile workforce who are using data on the move and consequently losing more unsecured data than ever before.
The most favoured way to connect to the internet, and subsequently back to the office, whilst lying in bed is via a wireless network (87%). Disturbingly, almost a fifth of people spoken to are using a wireless network that they know is insecure, with 56% down and uploading company information.
When staying in hotels, people are happy to connect to the hotel’s wireless network, expecting the hotel to ensure it’s secure. Almost half (47%) admit that they do so without even considering the security implications.
When asked ‘What is the last thing you do before going to sleep?’ it is reassuring to learn that, for 96% of the people questioned, it is kiss their partners goodnight. The other 4%, (71% of which are male), confess to completing work and checking their emails.
Michael Callahan, vice president at Credant, explained: “This survey confirms that there is a growing population that is no longer restricted by working hours or confined to the office building itself. People are mobile and will work anywhere, even in bed. Therefore, when sensitive and valuable data is being held on these devices and they get lost, it can have pretty detrimental and far reaching consequences to both the worker and their employer.”
“With increasing pressures on companies to comply with regulations, such as the Data Protection Act, we all have to respect our customers and employers by protecting the data held on our mobile devices, where ever we may be,” he added.