Does Working While on Vacation Put Your Company at Risk?

You check email when you're on vacation. You bring a company laptop on your trips. Taking "the office" on the road has become so commonplace that these days, we generally don't think twice about it.

But, a new study from Credant Technologies offers some interesting insights and more than a few words of caution. After all, in some cases, accessing company data from mobile devices can seriously impact corporate security.

Consider these findings. Credant polled 1,000 office workers in London and found that:

Virtually all (95 percent) said they will be taking their mobiles and smartphones abroad with them with the expectation of working.



64 percent said they will take along a laptop and that's up significantly from 33 percent just two years ago.



Unfortunately, though, 66 percent of these laptops will be unencrypted, and half (51 percent) are left totally insecure without even a password for protection.



65 percent of those planning to take a summer break will remain in contact with the office, check email accounts and text to ensure things stay on track during their absence.


Almost 50 percent say they will check emails at least once a day.


58 percent worried due to concerns about the security of the data that they'd be carrying around with them.

"We seem to have changed to a global population of workaholics. Only 35 percent of our respondents have no contact whatsoever with work during their vacation which puts them firmly in the minority," says Darren Shimkus, Worldwide SVP of Marketing for Credant. "Although on the surface this may seem like a good trend, especially for cash struck organizations, 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."

Shimkus recommends that companies take a close look at their data security strategies particularly those for mobile devices. Undoubtedly, that's good advice not only for summer, but for any time of the year, now that mobile technology has become so integral to today's business environment.