The study was carried out by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of 3M and used a ‘white hat hacker’ who assumed the role of a temporary office worker to visually hack sensitive or confidential information left on desks, computer screens and printers in full view.

During the experiment, the hacker was only confronted on an average of 32 per cent of occasions and 51 per cent of successful hacks took 15 minutes or less.

Said product manager for 3M’s Display Material and Systems Division, Gary Newson: “In the UK, 25 per cent of the experiment’s data breaches contained information deemed to be sensitive, such as log-in details, financial and customer data. The results also revealed that 44 per cent of successful visual hacks were carried out because computer screens were not protected.

“This could be prevented by using a solution such as 3M™ Privacy Filters to protect on-screen data. These help to keep data private by blocking the view of everyone but the user sitting directly in front of the screen.”

The office functions easiest to hack were Sales, Customer Service and Communications, followed by Accounting, Finance and Human Resources. The most secure was Legal, closely followed by Quality Assurance and Research and Development.

Find out more about 3M Privacy Filters