USB devices such as iPods, memory sticks, flash drives, camera phones and the like often feature very high-speed transfer and very high-capacity storage - now up to 12Gb or more.
They’ve made life easier for everyone. Copying and transporting very large volumes of data in a short time when compared to floppy disks and burning CD's.
CD's / DVD's are still being burned and lost - many recent high profile data loss cases are testiment to that. Not only should you primarily control who can access and write such data using DeviceLock, but any media authorised for us should also be fully 100% Encrypted.
Unfortunately this ease of use is a dual edged sword : Ease for regular users but a security nightmare for IT Departments.
USB Flash Drives are particularly inexpensive, easy-to-use and easy-to-lose. A well-meaning employee may believe he is out just £15 when he realizes that he’s left his USB flash drive behind at the coffee shop across from the office; however, the loss to his company will be a great deal more if the data contained on the flash drive should fall into the wrong hands.
One now famous illustration of how valuable data can be misplaced on these devices is the case where a former employee of a major financial institution sold his wireless handheld PDA device on Ebay. To the buyer’s surprise the handheld’s memory stored the ex-employers customer list.
Employee missteps related to portable music players can cost an enterprise more than just the loss or theft of valuable information.
Music or other IP sharing that takes place on the corporate network leaves the company exposed to copyright infringement litigation. And an information thief that uses an Apple iPod player doesn’t even have to be very clever. There is new commercial software that promotes using the iPod as a backup device. For example, Migo Personal for iPod from PowerHouse Technologies Group sucks up Outlook e-mail, calendar and contacts; Internet Explorer favorites and browsing history; as well as data files, presentations and the like on the iPod's hard drive with a few clicks.
It is clear that all removable devices need to be controlled. Devicelock is the simple, effective and quick answer. |
