As Wi-Fi takes an ever growing role in our daily lives, it seems it has become so important for some that they would choose it over the old favourites of sex, chocolate and alcohol.
According to The iPass Mobile Professional Report, 40% of the 1,700 mobile professionals surveyed would choose Wi-Fi as their number one daily essential. This designated Wi-Fi as having a higher priority than sex (37%), chocolate (14%) and alcohol (9%).
Further findings pointed as to why those surveyed chose Wi-Fi over sex, chocolate and alcohol; 75% of respondents said that Wi-Fi has improved their quality of life, while a further 75% said that data is more important than minutes when choosing a cellular contract.
“We all want to stay connected and productive in our personal and professional lives. Mobile professionals, in particular, expect to remain connected at all times, whether at home, travelling between client meetings, at their hotel or even inflight,” said Patricia Hume, chief commercial officer of iPass.
“We all want Wi-Fi first, because of faster speeds, lower prices and the better user experience it affords. And with the population of global mobile workers standing well over one billion, employers should be prepared to meet the demands of their employees, by providing them with the connectivity they desire.”
The survey also revealed the continuing struggle of shadow IT within businesses, while also highlighting how mobile security remains the biggest obstacle to the use of free Wi-Fi.
One in two mobile professionals stated their company allows them to use a personal device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) to access corporate data/systems via public or remote Wi-Fi. While 66% of mobile professionals were worried about data security when using free Wi-Fi hotspots, this sat in contrast to the 42% who will still access company data using public Wi-Fi.
38% of respondents had never used a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to protect their data, with just 9% listing corporate data loss as one of their main fears if their device were to be lost or stolen. By comparison, six times as many respondents were likely to be worried about losing contact information (57%) and almost half (49%) feared losing their photos.
“Unfortunately, the priorities of companies and their employees seem to be worlds apart. Employees have vast troves of valuable data on their smartphones, but are considerably less concerned about losing sensitive corporate data than they are about losing their personal information,” said Hume.
“It’s clear that companies still need to do a lot more to educate their employees regarding mobile security risks and provide robust safe usage guidelines. Ultimately, in today’s Wi-Fi first world, mobile professionals need to be equipped with the tools they need to remain productive wherever they are, while ensuring the use of public Wi-Fi doesn’t expose their corporate data to ever-growing security risks.”
