The People Bulletin

A recent survey of 1000 city workers in London’s Canary Wharf commissioned by Credant Technologies has highlighted serious implications for corporate security when paranoid workers can’t leave the office alone while away on holiday.

The main findings were:

• 95% take mobiles and smartphones abroad with the expectation of working;
• 64% will take a laptop abroad however 66% of these laptops will be unencrypted and 51% left totally insecure without even a password for protection;
• 65% will remain in contact with the office of which nearly 50% will check emails at least once a day;
• 57% blame current economic climate for being a work junkie;
• 58% worry about the security of the data they’ll take with them;

Predictably, 54% of those that felt they had to be available while away from their desks admitted checking their emails would leave them more stressed instead of relaxed following their break. And 58% confessed that the mechanics of remaining in contact, such as data security, caused them additional worry. Interestingly, 46% actually believe remaining in contact would leave them feeling in control and able to relax.

The current economic climate was the main reason why 57% of them felt they needed to be reachable while away with 39% believing, rightly or wrongly, that their bosses actually expect to be able to contact them nowadays when taking annual leave.

In a repeat of its study, first conducted two years ago, to measure ‘mobile habits, leisure and security’ Credant has found that 64% of those questioned this year will take a laptop with them on their travels compared with just 33% in 2008. Unfortunately for those companies employing these dutiful workers a shocking 66% will be unencrypted and 51% left totally insecure without even a password for protection! Which is rather worrying if these items get left behind at the airport, in a café or on the beach.

Speaking on these results, Darren Shimkus, Worldwide SVP of Marketing at Credant Technologies said: ‘We seem to have changed to a global population of workaholics. Only 35% of our respondents have no contact whatsoever with work during their holiday which puts them firmly in the minority. Although on the surface this may seem like a good trend, especially for cash struck organisations, we deal with the aftermath from these industrious workers when company secrets have gone AWOL. The harsh reality is that when corporate information is accessed from a mobile device, whether it’s personal or company owned, and it’s misplaced there are consequences.’

He went on to ask:

‘Who’s to blame? Is it the employee who just can’t let go or the employer for making them feel that they have to be accessible in the first place? Regardless of why it’s happening and with data privacy regulations getting harsher all the time, our advice to the corporate world is don’t leave security up to your staff, do it for them, especially as the Information Commissioner’s Office are under pressure to flex its new muscle and fine up to £500,000 for data breaches. Take the opportunity to re-evaluate your security - especially of your mobile devices, and perhaps invest in some holiday insurance of your own.’

www.credant.com

See also 'How to keep data secure: Focus on your people' by William Beer in this issue of The People Bulletin