Laptops In Bed? Workaholics Surf Before Snoozing
More than half of those surveyed who browse the Web in their pajamas do so for as much as six hours a week, Credant Technologies finds.
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More than one in four U.K. workers take their laptops or other mobile devices to bed and use them before they go to sleep, according to results of a survey released Tuesday.
Credant Technologies, a data protection company, said that, of those who work in bed, 57% do so for two to six hours a week. Most said their companions found the habit "very annoying," and 8% of the offenders admitted spending more time on mobile devices than talking to their partners each night.
Credant surveyed 300 workers to uncover patterns of laptop use and security implications. Forty-four percent of the respondents said they store important work documents on their mobile devices and 54% of those devices lacked encryption. One-fifth of respondents acknowledged using wireless networks that aren't secure while they work in bed.
"This survey confirms that there is a growing population that is no longer restricted by working hours or confined to the office building itself," Credant VP Michael Callahan said in a statement released Tuesday. "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." Eighty-seven percent of respondents favor connecting to the Internet via wireless networks while in bed, according to the survey. Forty-seven percent said they connect to wireless networks in hotels without thinking about security.
Credant advised the 4% of respondents who said the last thing they do before going to sleep is to check their e-mail messages and complete work to "take a long, hard look at their gadget-obsessed lives."
The company also advised encryption of data stored on mobile devices, the use of strong passwords, awareness of all points of connection, turning off unsecured Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices, and leaving the laptops behind at bedtime.
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