‘How can I secure my cubicle from prying intruders – in a covert way?’

We chatted to Vince Houghton, historian and curator at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, to get his tips on locking down your workspace, James Bond style.

1. PROTECT YOUR PASSWORD

// Houghton says this is the easiest way to protect your information. Keep desk tchotchkes (especially sticky notes) to a minimum. ‘Make sure your security questions aren’t plastered all over,’ he says. ‘Social engineering is the term we use for trying to learn as much as we can about somebody in order to guess their password and get inside their system without hacking it.’

2. LEAVE A ‘TELLTALE’

// There’s a scene in Dr. No where James Bond plucks a strand of hair from his head and sticks it across the opening between the closet doors in his hotel room. When he returns, the hair is gone, indicating to him alone that someone opened the doors. Houghton says you can leave telltales of your own on your office desk. Have important documents you’d like to keep safe? Place a stapler on top and position it in a way that you’ll easily be able to spot if it has been tampered with.

3. MAKE DUMMY FILES

// If you suspect a co-worker is stealing your ideas, leave a folder with a bunch of junk ideas on your desktop and then bury the good files in a place that’s much more difficult to find – like, say, in a folder labelled ‘Road trip 2012’. This method is what industry experts call ‘chicken feed’, and it’s a great way to throw snoopers off your scent, Houghton says. ‘You’re offering up titbits of what looks like good information to your adversary.’

4. INVEST IN LOW-TECH GADGETS

// Houghton recommends a screen protector that shields your screen from snooping eyes. A pen camera is also useful here. If you are going to a meeting and you suspect that someone is going to sit down at your desk and rifle through your stuff, ‘you can turn that pen camera on and then catch them in the act,’ he says.

5. AND FINALLY… HERE’S HOW TO SLACK OFF

// Memorise your boss’s schedule, identify which parts of the day he or she will be in a meeting – not roaming around the office. That way, you can scroll through Pop Mech in peace.