The modern businessperson has never been more reliant on portable computing. While the latest PDAs and smartphones allow basic email checking, most senior executives now rely on their trusty laptop – and perhaps a Wi-Fi or mobile broadband connection – to work on urgent business documents, spreadsheets and other information while on the move. However, the sheer ubiquity of the laptop brings with it a number of real business risks. For example, privacy invasion and data breaches caused by acts such as shoulder surfing.

Laptop privacy and data protection are major issues for business executives and anyone who trades in information. When Forrester Research asked security decision makers at European companies how important certain business objectives will be to their IT security group in the next 12 months, protection of customer data was the highest priority (80 per cent) followed by protection of corporate intellectual property and sensitive internal data (73 per cent) .

A recent survey commissioned by 3M found that a sizeable majority of commuting IT journalists – experts whose knowledge of technology sets them apart from the general mobile laptop user base – were concerned about laptop privacy and shoulder surfing generally.

The journalists, 34 per cent of whom spent between eight and 20 hours a week commuting with their laptops, revealed that that they would not work on financial information (60 per cent), legal data (57 per cent), web pages (15 per cent) or emails (26 per cent) while on the move due to obvious privacy concerns.

Revealingly, however, a whopping 78 per cent of journalists surveyed said they had shoulder surfed their fellow traveller’s laptops, with three quarters of respondents in this category admitting to curiosity over what the other person was working on.

One journalist confesses, “Its human nature to be inquisitive, especially on an otherwise dull train journey. Also if the screens are 15 or 17in it is hard not to look sometimes.”

Putting the boot on the other foot, 68 per cent of the laptop-toting journalists admitted to feeling uncomfortable or vulnerable to shoulder surfers while using their machines on their travels.

Another journalist comments, “There are always plenty of bored and curious people on the train. Or some people just plainly read as I type, one gentleman even pointed to my screen to say I had made a spelling mistake.”

Responses to the problem ranged from turning the screen away from the privacy infringer (55 per cent), through turning off the laptop (18 per cent), on to confronting the shoulder surfer (13 per cent). Amusingly, just under three per cent of respondents said they would turn the screen towards the privacy infringer if they became aware of their fellow traveller shoulder surfing their work.

What few laptop users seem to be aware of is the ease with which the problem can be negated. Using a simple and easily removable laptop screen filter, for example, users can protect their privacy and work in public places without fear of their work being exposed to unauthorised people.

Nick Hughes is business development manager at 3M Optical Systems