Kanguru’s Emmett Jorgensen was just featured in Government Security News (GSN) as a guest columnist with an article entitled “Flash Drive Security goes beyond Encryption“.
The article has an infosec focus on newer developments in flash drive security including remote management, on-board anti-virus and more. Here is a short excerpt: Read more…
A recent article in Network World outlines the potential security threats of smart phones. The article explains how, much like flash drives (or thumb drives, whichever term you prefer), mobile phones can be used to potentially spread malware when plugged into a USB port for syncing or charging.
Compromised phones will infect computers they may plug into for otherwise legitimate reasons, much the same way malware such as Stuxnet found its way onto laptops via thumb drives, according to the “Emerging Cyber Threats Report 2012″ released at the Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit 2011″
The report warns that “mobile phones will be a new on-ramp to planting malware on more secure devices.”
The article goes on to outline several other infosec threats posed by mobile phones as well.
For the full story, click here.
By Ken Lee
Quickly, name a gadget that didn’t even exist in the year 2000 but has since transformed our culture and the way we live today. 99% of you probably answered with MP3 player, tablet computer, GPS, e-Reader or smart phone. What do all of these devices have in common? For one thing, they are all super portable, and that feature is due to the unbridled success of Flash memory.
The development and maturation of NAND Flash as an affordable, non-volatile, solid-state data storage solution has helped usher in an era of mobile technology. It has allowed us to invent gadgets that simply would not have worked if incorporated with spinning platter drives.
However, after a decade of revolutionizing the technology industry, Flash is reaching its limits for further development. In order to increase Flash’s maximum capacity manufacturers have been shrinking the distance between transistors on flash chips over the years. Read more…
Co-Authored by Noah Manders and Emmett Jorgensen
Cloud computing has taken the storage world by storm, providing a platform for many connected mobile devices (iPhone, Android, iPad, Kindle, etc.) to access data without the need to store it locally on the device. Since these devices don’t require large HDD’s or SSD’s, it allows them to be smaller, more portable and less expensive than they might otherwise be; without sacrificing much in terms of performance.
Despite these benefits, one important consideration regarding Cloud storage is security. This has also been one of the major obstacles to a larger adoption of Cloud storage.
Cloud security issues generally fall into two categories; Provider security and Customer security.
Provider Security – (Security issues faced by the Cloud provider)
Users don’t often delve too deeply into the security of their Cloud Storage provider, but recent data breaches like the one recently experienced by Dropbox have called into question the security measures being taken by Read more…
Every organization has different security needs. What works for one, may not work for another.
Size, budget, personnel, and structure all play a factor in determining what an organization can and will do in terms of IT security. As such, there generally is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to Infosec.
With this in mind, Kanguru has developed a customization program to help tailor our encrypted flash drives to an organization’s needs; from individuals and small business to enterprise and government entities.
In addition to 256-bit AES hardware encryption and onboard anti-virus, some of the customizable options we offer include: Read more…
A recent article posted in Information Week details some interesting trends related to USB Flash Drive usage and security. According to the story “In the past two years, 70% of businesses have traced the loss of sensitive or confidential information to USB flash memory sticks”
Flash drives are incredibly useful; however, as the Information Week article shows, their tiny size and massive storage capacity make them a security threat as well. Although encryption seems like it would be a requirement for organizations dealing with sensitive data, it seems that more often than not, flash drives aren’t encrypted.
With that in mind, here is a list of recent flash drive security snafu’s: Read more…
For several years now flash drives have been used as a marketing/promotional tool, but this latest news takes the cake. It appears that rock band, The Flaming Lips, are currently distributing new music on flash drives which are encased in gummy frogs, gummy skulls and gummy fetuses. (Yes, you read that last part right.)
The promotion coincides with the newest Flaming Lips Tour, in which singer Wayne Coyne bounces around the audience inside a large bubble. If you’re a fan, you can catch The Flaming Lips live in Boston Wednesday, 7/27/11 for your chance to get a gummy covered flash drive with new Flaming Lips songs.
For more info, check out this article in the Boston Herald.
FYI - Kanguru can custom engrave flash drives for your organizational or promotional needs, however, we are currently back-ordered on our gummy skulls. 
Written by: Emmett Jorgensen
Ten years ago the miniature USB thumb drive crashed onto the scene, revolutionizing the portable storage industry. Although expensive at the time of its initial release, it quickly came down in price and went up in storage capacity, providing massive amounts of storage in a tiny form factor.
Today, the revered little flash drive is making waves again, but this time as the newest advancement in secure, portable computing. A few innovative companies have developed a way to transform the flash drive from a simple storage device into a portable virtual machine manager, allowing users to store a completely bootable operating system, applications and data on a high capacity flash drive.
Using a Bare-Metal-Boot Mode, these devices never have to touch the internal hard drive of the host machine. Read more…
The Boston Herald has details on a bank executive who resigned and then left with thousands of documents belonging to his former employer, Boston Private Bank & Trust Co.
In a suit filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, Boston Private Bank & Trust accuses former lending executive Todd Rassiger of stealing proprietary information that benefits his new employer, First Republic Bank.
The 24-page lawsuit alleges that before his resignation from Boston Private Bank & Trust Co., Rassiger attached personal USB flash drives to his bank-issued computer and downloaded more than 1,500 documents, many of which included highly confidential and proprietary information.
These days, companies need to be concerned with both external cyberattacks as well as the threat posed by insiders who have access to sensitive data. Our recent post highlights the need for endpoint security, which can block personal flash drives and keep an audit log of which files are downloaded.
We also highly recommend remote management capabilities for all portable devices like smartphones and storage devices. Kanguru’s Remote Management Console can be used to instantly revoke device access from employees who are leaving the organization. Their company-issued USB drive will be remotely disabled or deleted the next time it’s plugged in.
10% of Online Sales to Benefit Fisher House
In light of the recent successes of our Special Operations and Intelligence Services, and to honor our veterans who have sacrificed so much for the good of our country, Kanguru will be donating 10% of every online order placed this week to the Fisher House. (http://www.fisherhouse.org/) This includes ALL products! Flash drives, hard drives, duplicators and more.
About Fisher House:
“The Fisher House program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America’s military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.”
“Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes,” built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.”
Details:
When: 5/2/2011 – 5/9/2011
Where: Kanguru’s Online Store
How Much: 10% of each sale
Remember freedom isn’t free. Thank a soldier today!
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