Road warriors wirelessly connecting to the corporate network from hot spots at airports or coffee outlets. Just a few years ago, nightmare stories were common of even casual bystanders being able to eavesdrop on corporate communications made in such circumstances. As a result, there's a widespread acceptance that Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are pretty much de rigueur for wireless use on the road.

But just how much security does a VPN provide? The answer, it seems, is "not as much as you might imagine." "People tend to fixate on the word 'private' in virtual private network,'" warns Jeremy Cioara, an author of five books for Cisco Press and a security instructor for training provider CBT Nuggets, based in Eugene, Ore. "They're sitting in Starbucks working at their laptop, and they think that because they're using a VPN, it's safe. It isn't."