SmallBizResource Blog -- Mobility

SBR Quickie: Wireless Slips Between The Sheets

Posted by Gayle Kesten Monday, May 25, 2009, 08:12 PM ET

Mobile computing could very well retire that years-old adage about there being a time and place for everything.

At the very least, the line between passion and obsession continues to blur -- with the latter trumping the former in more ways than one. According to a newly released survey from security vendor Cendant Technologies, 25% of London workers use their laptops and other mobile devices in bed before going to sleep -- apparently not quite ready to shut down before getting some shut eye. In fact, of that quarter-slice of the pie, 57% said they work in bed anywhere from two to six hours per week.

Of those respondents who said they have important work documents stored on their mobile devices, more than half are not practicing safe computing in the form of encryption. More than 85% of survey takers are online via a wireless network, with one-fifth of them knowing that connection is insecure and 56% of them actively uploading and downloading files from the office.

"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," said Michael Callahan, Credant's VP.

Not to mention, as Cedant puts it, their bed companions.

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Mobility