IS Magazine Blog

Don't Fall into the Data Disaster Trap

Dec 18 2012

Deutsch: Micro USB Ladekabel für Mobiltelefone

Deutsch: Micro USB Ladekabel für Mobiltelefone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Ever-Increasing Importance of Properly Securing Your USB Devices.

The digital world we now find ourselves in proposes the many benefits of being able to hold important information in multiple places at any one time. Gone are the days of clinging on to singular hard paper copies, with their safety being most imperative. Our modern digitalization of information truly has made it faster and easier to communicate, create documents and transfer data with the click of a mouse.

However, as with most perks there are also major disadvantages. In this instance its data security. The news is bombarded with stories of large corporations and governments misplacing these technological wonders, creating a huge market for data protection.

Who Loses Data?

A report carried out in 2006 by the US House Committee on Government Reform found that between 2003 and 2006 there were over 800 incidents that involved the loss of government data. You can only imagine what this means in terms of the amount of potentially business-threatening information available to curious citizens. There are an array of implications when these important little devices are lost. If it's just a personal USB removable device then the consequences aren't particularly severe, however it would be annoying to lose personal photos from your recent holiday or recreate your latest arty masterpiece.

At the other end of the spectrum hefty consequences are in store for a number of people when governments lose such devices. 'Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing' was one headline following the loss of disks by the UK government. The Child Benefit data on these discs included personal details; National Insurance numbers, and even some bank details of 25 million people. The disks have never been recovered. This shows the extreme importance of keeping your mobile data 100% secure.

It's now become hard to imagine our world without such digital devices being of aid to modern society. Luckily the market has responded to the dangers of using mobile devices, and there are thousands of security products available. When it comes down to fully securing your mobile data and assets, secure USB devices are the answer. Along with the standard USB security features such as encryption and password requirements, more secure devices goes beyond the minimum, carrying a number of advanced security features.

Advanced features to Look For

GPS tracking is the biggest security feature offered by the best modern day devices. This is only available on a few devices. Realizing you have lost something, it's basic human reaction to try and find it. Hence the need for this impressive feature, lending a helping hand to enable you to accurately track and recover your device.

In terms of providing 100% security a remote data wipe feature creates a new and exciting angle to the world of USB. By incorporating this feature within a secure USB device, it completely revolutionizes the steps you can take to protecting your mobile data. If it falls into the wrong hands, you can take decisive steps to ensuring the data isn’t accessed. Moreover, not even an internet connection or plugin is required with some devices as they have internal batteries. This means that your device is in your control at all times.

Mobile data security has never been so important. In the past few years ’bring your own device’ has taken off, which means that more and more businesses are getting employees to use their own tech in the work place. This presents a whole host of new data security challenges. Failure to meet certain standards can result in fines and serious damage to your reputation. The cost of advanced secure USB devices is miniscule when compared to the potential damage caused by lost data.

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