Workers are no longer shackled to their desks — notebooks, PDAs and cellphones have set them free. But this increased freedom comes at a price. As workers unlock the information that has traditionally resided within office walls, they leave an opening for those who want to get their hands on that data. These days, when employees go out on the road for long periods, they are no longer confined to days-old, paper-based data. They can now set up office wherever they are — a coffee shop, a client's offices, an airport lounge — and take all the information they need with them. They can connect to and send back information in real time, increasing efficiency and ensuring everyone always has access to the latest data. But with the ability to carry away information comes an increased security risk. When workers leave the office they leave behind all the security it provides. At many organizations, pass codes or security cards are a must, providing at least some degree of protection for office equipment — and all the data that resides on it. But laptops can easily be snatched, PDAs lost and information sent insecurely over the Internet, stolen.
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