Griff Wason | Sandisk 8GB Cruzer Titanium USB Drive animation

8GB Titanium USB Flash Drive

Sandisk™ 8GB Cruzer Titanium USB Flash Drive animation

I have a love/hate relationship with USB Flash Drives: I have a few of these Cruzer Titanium USB drives of varying capacities, but the 16GB version I have on my key chain has been trodden on (also by one of my horses), dropped in the mud, been through the washing machine and dryer (I really would not recommend trying this), and yet has survived to tell the tale! I don’t think even Sandisk would expect it to survive this kind of punishment. I keep the data secure using the fantastic Truecrypt software, and have challenged my techie friends to crack it - so far none have managed it.
So, overall I am very happy with my little drives.

Having said all that, their diminutive size and yet extraordinary capacity makes me nervous...

Okay, they are innocuous devices that do nothing more than help people carry around their most important files.

I feel really strongly that individuals and ALL companies need to be reminded about the safe use of portable storage devices. A USB drive is an important business tool for many people, the fact that they are cheap, portable and spacious has helped an increasingly mobile workforce do their job.

But, flash drives - and other small storage devices - are a definite management headache for many if not ALL companies.

Rogue storage devices

Many companies simply have NO idea how these drives are being used, and for that matter, the same goes for any removable media. The security firm Insightix has showed that organisations can have large numbers of "rogue" devices joining their networks every day. The company said that, on average, 20% of the devices connecting to a large organisation's network could be classed as "rogue". Unless organisations know who is connecting to their network and what they are using, managing what they are doing is impossible.

The head of forensics at Detica, said the roominess of USB drives made them dangerous devices to leave unwatched and uncontrolled.

"The reality is that you can easily buy a very high capacity drive that will hold an awful lot of intellectual property or government secrets."

"If a companies security policy/protocol is a hindrance rather than a help then users will try to avoid it - and generally succeed!"

"On a well-managed network that's policed properly, it's very difficult for members of team A to access team B's data."

At the very least, data on USB drives should be encrypted so that should it go astray there is not much that can be done with it.

So, please be careful with your data, regularly back it up, be careful about accessability to your data, who has access, why they need it, and what can be done with it. Remember, the value of your PCs, laptops, netbooks, gadgets and cellphones is generally insignificant compared to the often priceless value of your stored data/information (documents, photos, music, etc.)