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The spying game
TV crime thrillers and spy movies continue to captivate audiences across the globe, but in real life espionage can be a devastating practice with the potential to inflict serious damage to a company or individual’s reputation, credibility and livelihood. Like it or not, the line between fact and fiction is blurred in today’s society as threats such as privacy invasion, identity theft and fraud loom over us as real and present dangers. In this Digital Age, where laptops are ubiquitous and wireless hotspots are on the rise, how can we retain control of our private information while travelling or in public places, and avoid potential disaster? Business travellers, commuters and frequent flyers are especially vulnerable to security breaches. The combination of public places – whether it be an airplane cabin, airline business or club lounge, train, bus, coffee shop or hotel lobby – laptops and wireless networks are a fertile ground for ‘shoulder surfers’. In these environments, laptop users cannot be aware of all the activity going on around them and are at the mercy of people peering over their shoulder to obtain on-screen information, including PINs, user IDs, business plans, financial projections, contracts, personnel records, customer information and other confidential or personal data. Shoulder surfers can range from the nosy passenger in the neighbouring train or airplane seat up to the practised expert looking for those elusive nuggets of information that might have value to them or a second party. Sidelong glances from a meddlesome neighbour can be annoying; research has also found that 89 per cent of business travellers admit to snooping on unsuspecting seatmates whilst travelling and 36 per cent have read over someone else's shoulder in another public place1. However, the expert poses the most serious problem. Information is vital in the competitive world when markets are tight and people want to gain a clear advantage. Just one fact or figure could make all the difference. It is worth bearing in mind that you ‘are more likely to have secrets ripped off at Starbucks from someone snooping over your shoulder or using wireless sniffing software than from sophisticated hackers’2. Take action A variety of technical solutions can be implemented on a laptop to control access to information, ranging from biometric authentication devices and software passwords to access cards and so on. However, these cannot prevent snoopers from viewing on-screen data whilst the data is being processed by the user. The latest security gadget for travellers and businessmen on the go is a laptop privacy filter. Privacy filters from 3M work by narrowing the viewing angle so that only persons directly in front of the screen are able to see the on-screen data, while anyone positioned to the side or looking over their shoulder will see only a blacked-out screen. The filters are slim and lightweight, with the ability to clip tidily into the bezel and remain in position even when the laptop is closed. The protection of personal data and our rights as individuals is critical, especially in today’s cutthroat competitive society where dirty tactics abound. Outsmart, outwit and outplay the shoulder surfing villains and stay on top of your game. 3M privacy filters are available from stationery and office suppliers, or online and computer accessory specialists such as Misco and Computing Plus. 1. “Third Annual 3M Privacy Filter Snoop Survey”, Kelton Research, October 2003. 2. “Shoulder Surfing, Sniffing Worse Than "Evil Twin" Access Points”, by Gregg Keizer, Information Week, TechWeb Business Information Technology Network, Jan 26, 2005. |
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