As soon as
USB flash drive appeared on the scene, it revolutionized the concept of data
storage and made it extremely mobile. This portable data storing device was
smaller, faster, more reliable and had the ability to store much more data than
an ordinary floppy drive. The world was taken by surprise by this small data
storing device, this device was as small as a human thumb that is why it was
also called thumb drive or jump drive. Later on, when people started using it
on a mass level, a dark side of this USB flash drive started appearing. The
biggest drawback of this device was its biggest advantage, i.e. its size. There
were many incidents reported of getting the USB drive lost or stolen.
Since the
introduction of USB flash drives till now, it imposes the same threat of data
leakage due to its small size. As these portable data storing devices have an
extraordinary capacity to save data, a USB drive leaks a huge amount of
confidential data when lost. As the surveys and studies suggest, hundreds and
thousands of USB flash drives are lost or stolen every year that leak data
worth millions of Dollars. You just cannot simply put all the blame on tiny
existence of the jump drive for losing data, people do not follow proper
security measures that is why when they lose a portable drive, they breach
their whole data. The computer users who use USB flash drive as their storing
device need to use security software that can secure USB .
USB drives
do not only spill out data when they are lost or misplaced insecurely, these
devices are also used by cyber criminals to infect the computers. According to
experts, more than quarter of viruses are spread through USB flash drives.
Studies have revealed that if a hundred people are given an unknown USB drive,
more than fifty of them will plug in the drive in their computer without even
thinking about the security threats. These alien USB drives often prove to be a
cause of injecting the virus in the computer. These viruses provide a gateway
to the cyber criminals to enter the computer and steal desired confidential
data.
The recent
incident of Snowden also highlighted another drawback of the USB flash drive.
Snowden publicized some very confidential information of the secret services.
The information he leaked made him the target of the many powerful
personalities of the world. That will be astonishing to many of you that
Snowden simply used a USB flash drive to steal the sensitive data of the secret
services. USB jump drive is now available in a number of shapes and sizes that
makes it extremely easy to hide and carry. Recognizing a rectangular shaped USB
drive will be easy, but, a USB flash drive in the shape of a toy ball cannot be
pointed out so easily. USB flash drive is an extremely convenient tool to carry
data; however, it is not much of a secured way of holding it around.
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