Enterprise Guide: 7 Steps to Securing USB Drives

Personal storage devices such as USB flash drives are more powerful than ever and have become ubiquitous in the enterprise environment. Originally designed for consumer use, these devices typically lack security, control and auxiliary management tools. Many employees don’t think twice about taking work home or out of the office on the personal thumb drive they purchased at a local center for office supplies. With millions of people carrying around personal storage devices, these gadgets are being used both innocently to increase productivity and for other less legitimate purposes such as smuggling information out of the enterprise. Even when used with the best intentions, the data stored on USB drives is generally not covered by routine company procedures, such as backup, encryption, or asset management

Even when used with the best intentions, the data stored on USB drives is generally not covered by routine company procedures, such as backup, encryption, or asset management. How can companies keep track of the data coming in or leaving the company via these devices? Keeping company data secure has become a significant challenge for any corporate IT department.