Do your users take USB Flash Drive home with them?  Are those drives encrypted?  If not, they are taking a big risk when they get in the car.

Unsecured USB Drives are a big problem because:

A)  Flash Drives get stolen from cars

B)  Flash Drives tend to fall out of pockets in parking lots

These incidents are embarrasing and potentially expensive.  Data breaches are increasingly subject to fines and penalties at the state and national level throughout North America and Europe.

Data Security, Portable Storage

In this BankInfoSecurity interview, a lead administrator of the ACH network discusses how cyber-criminals are targeting corporate bank accounts:

it’s a type of identity theft really in which cyber thieves gain control of business’ bank account by stealing the business’ valid online banking credentials. So these credentials are stolen through malware that is installed on a computer, and it can happen in a few different ways. So among those ways could be infected documents that are attached to an email, and the business clicks on that email that document, or a link contained within the email that connects to an infected website. Or a business could use an USB port, a flash drive, so they put the flash drive that has been infected into the USB port.

Once the credentials are stolen, the thief has access to online bank accounts and can fraudulently transfer funds out of the country.  This may explain why USB autorun trojans are now the biggest malware threat worldwide according to a recent McAfee study.

Data Security

GCN has the list of Top 10 “awfully bad” passwords.

Kanguru management tools, including the new KRMC Cloud, allow IT Managers to enforce strong passwords on USB Flash Drives.  Prevent brute-force dictionary attacks and easy-to-guess passwords.  Learn more about Kanguru password enforcement.

Data Security

The trojan Generic! Atr, which spreads via USB devices, is the most common malware issue worldwide according to a new report from McAfee released today.  A second virus that targets removable devices is currently in the No. 3 spot.  The popularity and portability of USB memory sticks has made them a favorite for hackers.  People unwittingly spread the malware every time they plug into a new machine.

Kanguru has integrated Anti-malware protection directly into the Defender Elite flash drive to reduce these threats.  Using Bit Defender’s AV engine, the Defender Elite will scan files in real time as they are transferred to the device.  The flash drive can also be used to disinfect the host computer.

Data Security, Malware, Portable Storage

Kanguru has just announced its first USB 3.0 product:  the QS3 USB Hard Drive.

The USB 3 interface is taking transfer speeds to a whole new level.  The QS3 hard drive performs average sustained transfers at 120 MB/s Read and 80 MB/s Write.  The product starts at $114.95 for 500GB and is available at these fine retailers.

Portable Storage

The Kanguru Remote Management Console (KRMC) for USB Flash Drives is now available as a Cloud-based subscription service. 

KRMC is a powerful tool for managing Secure USB Drives throughout your organization.  Lost drives can be remotely terminated, the help desk can remotely assist users, and all actions can be logged and audited for compliance.  KRMC Enterprise Edition is currently being used by hospitals, banks, government agencies, and other large organizations to protect sensitive information.  Now KRMC Cloud Edition is available for smaller organizations to get the same protection without investing in infrastructure.

Read the full announcement here.

Data Security, Portable Storage

Two hospitals in Kentucky have been forced to notify the public of data breaches under the new HITECH legislation.  Both breaches involved the loss of unencrypted portable drives.  According to the story in Health Data Management, one flash drive contained protected health information for 24,600 individuals admitted to the hospital since 2002.

The HITECH Act is changing the way that healthcare providers think about data security.  Small devices can store massive amounts of data and should be considered high risk if they are not properly secured.

Data Security, Healthcare, Portable Storage