Cafés are the riskiest places employees can work from

It's nice to let employees work outside the office in cafés during the day, or in hotel lounges while they travel for business - but have you ever thought about how this could be a risk to your company data?

A new study has found cafés are the riskiest places for employees to do business in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korean and Taiwan, as people believe this is where "confidential business information is most at risk".

The survey, conducted by Regus, found cafes were also the riskiest places globally (59%), followed by hotel bars and lounges (50%) and on flights (46%).

In some countries, the daily commute is also seen as a prime location to peek over people's shoulder, with 80% of respondents worried about this in Japan and 47% in China.

In Hong Kong, airline business lounges are also seen as a dodgy location (46%), while in Taiwan and South Korea campus-style work facility canteens are high on people's lists (56% and 41% respectively)

"Privacy remains a huge concern for workers travelling to work on their daily commute, but also for those taking a pit-stop at a café between meetings, or catching up on email in the hotel lounge," John Henderson, CFO at Regus Asia-Pacific, said.

"The increasing need to remain connected and productive via portable devices and laptops means that workers can easily find somewhere to quickly catch up on tasks. But each time they do so, they can be putting their sensitive business information at risk of prying eyes and ears."

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He added that for this reason, employees need to have access to a workspace environment where they can work flexibly and be assured their private business won't be exposed.

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