Keyboards can be the target of eavesdropping, it has been reported, with recent research finding that they are not safe to send confidential data through.

Computer scientists in Switzerland have discovered that electromagnetic radiation from keyboards could give away the keystrokes typed into the device, meaning that criminals could potentially steal passwords and other details.

In their paper, Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations of Wired Keyboards, it was noted that the worst offenders were newer devices, which were filled with a larger amount of technological equipment and could have potentially detectable information from a greater distance.

The scientists concluded that cost pressures on design meant that most keyboards were giving off strong emanations.

It was added: "Hence they are not safe to transmit sensitive information. No doubt that our attacks can be significantly improved, since we used relatively inexpensive equipment."

Last week, the Burton Group revealed to vnunet.com that companies were storing too much data on their computers even though there had been a number of high-profile data breaches.

More than half of small businesses (53%) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.