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By Kelly Clayton DON'T get me wrong, I trust my boyfriend 100 per cent � but that doesn't mean I'm not 'curious' as to who sends him emails.
I'm sure that most women would say the same and according to research the female of the species are turning into cyber snoopers.
But I'd like to clarify something, it's not so much that women are the worst culprits, it's just that men make it so easy for us and we think more deviously.
For instance, when my boyfriend first got an email account I thought I would see if I could guess his password � just for my own entertainment you understand.
Not thinking he would be that predictable I went for the brand of his favourite football boots, wham � inbox, outbox, compose, deleted etc.
I had a brief nose around the inbox but then told him what I had done and said he should change his password because anyone who knew him could guess it.
So after changing it, I thought I'd give it another try just to make sure � low and behold it was my second choice, still football related.
When he tried to play me at my own game, I ended up telling him my password, knowing there was nothing untoward on there.
A few weeks later I logged into my inbox and all my new mail was coming up as 'read'. I asked that evening: "Have you been reading my emails?"
"No" was the reply. So I had to give him a quick technical lesson about read and unread mail. If he had only stuck to the mail already opened I would be none the wiser.
So you see I put the new stats down to womens' brains, not that we are any more suspicious.
The research, carried out by internet security company Symantec, revealed checking partner's emails, text messages and address books has replaced rifling through pockets for phone numbers and checking credit card bills.
"People are naturally curious and there are individuals out there who will read confidential emails or information," explains Kevin Chapman, from Symantec.
"At the end of the day it comes down to good basic security practices. If you don't want partners to read files on you computer or messages on your mobile, make sure you're password or PIN protected."
Kevin adds people should make sure their password could not be guessed!
Research found that
� 40 per cent of women would attempt to access their partner's emails if they suspected their partner was cheating. 25 per cent of men would also use this method to catch out cheating partners
� 60 per cent of women would check their partner's mobile phone address book for names they didn't recognise, with only 35 per cent of men saying they would do so
� 62 per cent of women would check partners' mobile phones for suspicious text messages, with 39 per cent of men doing the same
� 35 per cent of men would read a document on a partner or friend's computer if they thought that they would not get caught, with 27 per cent of women doing the same
10:32am Tuesday 12th August 2003
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