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USB negligence threatens firms

April 25th 2006, London - Despite the popularity of portable devices such as iPods and USB drives, the British workforce remains ignorant of the security threat in its pocket, according to new research from IT Governance specialists, Centennial Software.

The survey revealed that two-thirds of people have at some point mislaid a USB stick, and almost 60 per cent of those devices were storing business-critical information.

"This perception of USB storage devices being 'disposable' is a massive risk to organizations' business data," said Matt Fisher, vice president at Centennial Software. "Losing control of a USB stick containing company secrets, even if only for a couple of hours, creates a serious risk of data leakage, identity theft and malware propagation. Everyone worries about the security of their laptops, but a USB drive can be even more valuable in terms of the information stored on it. Most of the data on these drives isn't even encrypted to protect it from interested opportunists."

The research also found that respondents are failing to understand the storage potential of their iPods and MP3 players. Almost a third of respondents use less than half of the available space on their MP3 players, and 20 per cent of people have, at some point, found mysterious files on their hardware that weren't deliberately downloaded.

These results come following a year involving several high-profile data theft incidents, where portable media devices, such as MP3 players and USB sticks, have been used to store and steal data from banks and other large corporations. Centennial is warning that UK consumers need to understand the potential for portable media devices to contribute to this level of theft.

"Given the popularity of the iPod and the rise in the successful flexible working initiatives over the last year, these figures come as a surprise," continued Fisher. "Data theft is a serious issue which needs to be addressed, but these results demonstrate that security breaches are often down to user error. Employers need to manage this risk, and control what is being plugged in to the network, and by whom."

Centennial works with organizations to help enforce a security policy that determines which employees in the company should be able to access different classes of device. Centennial's DeviceWall helps organizations manage the security of mobile devices, data, and desktops both on and away from the corporate network.

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.

Centennial Software, now part of FrontRange Solutions, is a leading developer of 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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