Tablet Owners Likely to Transmit Sensitive Data, Says Report

Forty-eight percent of U.S. tablet owners have used the device to transmit some kind of sensitive data, according to a survey released recently by Harris Interactive and FuzeBox.

Considering the explosive increase in tablet computer adoption, this is not entirely shocking news, but it should give pause to business owners and IT professionals. Sometimes without the explicit blessing of the company, employees are increasingly using tablets to answer work email and conduct day-to-day business.

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For some, tablets are beginning to supplement and even replace laptops, which obviously raises some new security considerations for IT teams to be aware of. At the same time, many of the same rules apply: don’t connect to insecure networks and do use strong passwords, for example.

Of the U.S. adults surveyed, 42% said they transferred sensitive data of a personal nature and only 20% transferred sensitive data for business or professional purposes.

In terms of security, users are mostly confident that their tablets are safe from exploits. Only 15% were “not at all confident” in the security of data transferred via their tablet or smartphone.

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