This week Kanguru introduced a revamped USB Duplicator product set that features higher speeds and additional support for USB Hard Drives and SSDs.  Available in 11-, 21- and 43- Target models, the Kanguru USB Duplicator is capable of transfer rates up to 33 MB/s per USB port.  No PC required!

Also available is the Kanguru USB Copy Pro, a low-cost PC-based hub for copying USB flash drives.

Duplication

Dark Reading reports on two new data breach studies, the Ponemon Institute’s Cost of Cyber Crime Study and a Digital Forensics Association report called The Leaking Vault.

Organizations are getting hit by at least one successful attack per week, and the annualized cost to their bottom lines from the attacks ranged from $1 million to $53 million per year, according to a newly published benchmark study of 45 U.S. organizations hit by data breaches.

Data Security

11 Things You Can Do With Kanguru Defender Elite Encrypted Flash Drives

1. Communicate security policy changes and updates directly to the drive and enforce changes as necessary via remote management.
2. Audit drive usage to ensure policy updates.
3. Create lists (whitelist/blacklist) of approved IP ranges so that drives are only used in trusted locations.
4. Track device usage and location via IP addresses.
5. Set a master password for administrator access.
6. Immunize any PC or Laptop with Defender Elite’s onboard Anti-Virus.
7. Disable and/or delete devices that have been lost or stolen.
8. Meet regulatory requirements through the use of a verifiable security audit trail.
9. Track device activity on each workstation/computer using Kanguru USB Device Control.
10. Revoke drive access to former employees still in possession of their drives.  (Particularly useful if their drive contains proprietary company info.)
11. Sleep well knowing that 100% of your data is secure!

Data Security

With the launch of the Defender Basic, Kanguru now has a Secure USB Flash Drive for every segment and budget.

Defender Basic for consumers and small/medium businesses.  Basic model features 256 AES Hardware Encryption and free onboard Antivirus protection.

Defender V2 for large enterprises.  V2 adds Remote Management capabilities and additional customizable security options.

Defender Elite for high-end enterprise and government agencies.  Elite provides FIPS 140-2 certified encryption and tamperproof housing for the ultimate in security.

Check out our comparison chart to determine which Kanguru Defender is right for your organization.

Data Security, Portable Storage

Via ComputerWorld, “Microsoft on Friday warned that attackers are exploiting a critical unpatched Windows vulnerability using infected USB flash drives.”

Kanguru Defender Elite and Defender V2 secure flash drives come standard with onboard BitDefender Antivirus to prevent malware from spreading on infected drives.  The first year of A/V service is free of charge and can also be used to scan the host computer for malware.

Malware, Portable Storage

Tim Wilson at Dark Reading reports on two more data breaches involving lost storage devices:

Online attacks might be getting more sophisticated every day, but two incidents last week are reminding the industry that the loss of physical storage media is still among the most common causes of data breaches.

The term “free credit monitoring” appears in many articles like this one.  It should be emphasized that the services will be free to the victims, but will be quite expensive for Care 1st.

Data Security, Portable Storage

The Connecticut State Teachers Retirement Board notified teachers last week that it’s missing a USB flash drive containing personal data.  Fortunately, proper security procedures appear to have been in place and the data on the device was encrypted.

“We have numerous controls in place so that financial transactions are properly authorized and executed and have enhanced our internal procedures over the physical control of flash drives,” according to the letter, which was signed by Darlene Perez, administrator of the retirement board.

In Connecticut, data breach notifications are required under General Statute 36a-701(b).  This law only applies to data that “has not been secured by encryption or by any other method or technology that renders the personal information unreadable or unusable”.

Does your state have a data breach notification law?

Data Security

Courtesy of CRN.

A number of these incidents involve laptops or USB hard drives.  The rule of thumb should be:  If it’s portable, it’s easy to steal.

Data Security

The Kanguru Remote Management Console - Cloud Edition was recently reviewed at eSecurityPlanet.com.  We’d like to thank Lisa Phifer for thoroughly testing the platform and giving us great feedback and suggestions.  While this review provides a helpful tour of the platform, Kanguru is ready to help you evaluate for yourself and “try before you buy”.

 We would also like to respond to some of the feedback and give additional details where it might be helpful.

• To clarify pricing:  KRMC Cloud retails for $19.95 per drive per year, with volume licensing options available.  Optional BitDefender anti-virus renewal is $7.95 per drive per year.
• Linux and Mac OS compatibility will be available soon for Defender Elite flash drives.  This functionality will be added to existing hardware through a secure remote software update.
• Automatic license assignment is available for centralized provisioning.
• The ability to deactivate and disable onboard AV without Kanguru’s help will soon be available as a provisioning option.
• A number of the “wish items” are available in the more full-featured Enterprise version of KRMC.

Data Security, Portable Storage