Office downloading rife as holiday season hea...

Office downloading rife as holiday season heats up

~ women most likely to endanger company security by downloading
personal files at work ~

Research released today by Centennial Software, developer of the DeviceWall PC security solution, shows that 50 percent of women download personal files to their work computers, compared to only one in four men.

"Summer sees company PCs become bloated with holiday photos and music," said Andy Burton, CEO of Centennial Software. "MP3 players will consume millions of digital files this year, while digital cameras will create millions more. Our research shows that 35 percent of these files will land up on company-owned computers, presenting a huge risk to corporate networks as unmonitored devices connect with employees' PCs."

An unexpected twist however, was the revelation that women are more likely to use the office computer to transfer files than men. The office is the most popular place for women to download music, with 50 percent downloading their music at work while the other half download either at home, at a friend's house or in an Internet cafe.

When it came to digital photography, only 14 percent of men use the work computer to download their pictures from their camera, while three times as many women admitted to doing this.

The presence of uncontrolled removable media devices - including iPods, USB sticks, digital cameras and PDAs - on the network dramatically increases the risks of identity theft, data loss and the introduction of viruses and malware into the organisation.

To help firms combat these risks, Centennial Software has announced DeviceWall 3.0, a security software solution which allows companies to actively manage the connection of removable media devices to corporate PCs. The DeviceWall software actively manages a wide range of portable media (including iPods, USB sticks, PDAs and Smartphones), preventing the transfer of information between corporate PCs and unauthorised devices.

"Controlling access to these devices should be a vital part of any IT policy," continued Burton. "With 70% of IT security breaches occurring inside the enterprise, DeviceWall gives IT managers the means to counter one of the largest risks facing their network."

- Ends -

About Centennial Software / FrontRange Solutions

Centennial Software was acquired by FrontRange Solutions (www.frontrange.com) in April 2008. FrontRange Solutions develops Service Management, IT Infrastructure and Customer Relationship Management solutions that scale with the needs of mid-sized and distributed enterprises. The company – through its FrontRange, HEAT, GoldMine, Enteo and Centennial brands – offers a unique portfolio that has been chosen by more than 150,000 organizations worldwide to help improve the effectiveness and reduce the cost of interacting with external and internal customers.

Part of the FrontRange Solutions Infrastructure Management Group, Centennial Software develops IT Audit & Network inventory, Software Asset Management (SAM) and Endpoint Security Tools Centennial Discovery, License Manager and DeviceWall enable more than 6,000 organizations worldwide to manage their IT assets, license compliance and network security. Learn how full network audit, complete control of software licenses and effective USB security solutions can help drive cost, risk and complexity out of IT operations.

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