"If your company provides you with VPN access on your laptop, use it. That's a sure fire way to ensure that everything you send and receive is encrypted, and it makes your surfing much safer."

This should have been the first, and most important line of the entire article. Wireless encryption, IM client, and internet browser simply don't matter as someone who is out to grab your information is going to be doing so by viewing the packets sent between your computer and router.