Who in the
world is unaware of the recent data theft by Edward Snowden from the NSA
(National Security Agency). Edward Snowden has stolen the extremely
confidential information from the system of the National Security Agency and
exposed it to the world’s media. The interesting fact is that, he did not
perform any ninja action to steal the data; it has been just like a walk in the
park for him. He was equipped with no hi-tech tool but the extremely common USB
flash drive. He just plugged his USB flash drive in the computer and fetched
the data out which he intended to steal. This incident once again brought the
USB flash drive in the focus of the news and once again highlighted the threats
that are imposed to your data because of this wonderful invention. The USB
memory sticks haunt our data in the following ways.
The deed
that is done by Edward Snowden tops the list, which means the insider threat.
The internal employees of the company are more likely to steal data using the
USB flash drive. The businesses allow the employees to carry data home so that
they can work from home using their own device and increase the output. This
principle is known as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). There is no difficulty to
the employees at all who want to steal data and then use that for their own
good. As the companies have no check and balance of how many USB drives are
being plugged into the system, who is using which device, what data the employees
are accessing, these all are the factors which are proving worse for the
organizations.
USB flash
drives are getting better and better as with every day passing by and providing
greater convenience. But, still, the convenience is not so convenient.
Employees tend to save confidential and sensitive information in their USB
flash drives that is almost of the size of a human thumb. It is quite obvious
that keeping such a small device would be a tough task. The USB flash drives
are prone to getting lost or stolen; these lost or stolen USB jump drives are
likely to spill the sensitive data out. Using data security software that can password protect USB can save your data saved in the USB flash drives from
getting leaked.
Cyber
criminals use USB drives as a tool of spreading viruses. They store mal
programs in the jump drives and then drop in parking lots and other public
places where that USB stick can get the attention of the people. According to a
study, even the 78 percent security
experts admitted that they have plugged in an alien USB drive which they found
lying somewhere around. These small portable data storing devices are
responsible for more than quarter of the viruses that spread and infect the
computers.
The best way
to avoid such data breaches is to restrict employees from using their own
portable drives, equip the USB drive with proper security tools and avoid
plugging in alien USB sticks. Any incident of data breach can harm you a lot
financially as well as your reputation. Keep yourself educated with the
security threats and keep your data safe.
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