The UK is a nation of shoulder-surfers, with an impressive 80 per cent of the British public admitting to reading over someone's shoulder.

According to new research, 486,720 documents and emails per week areread off laptop screens in public places, and more than half of businessusers simply ignore the problem.

Only five per cent of laptop users said they would actually confront ashoulder surfer, according to research from 3M.

Physical security is a common IT chestnut, as even the most technicallyastute defences can be rendered useless by ill-considered activities.