In a recent interview with SC Magazine, Bloomberg’s head of IT security names “data loss” as the biggest concern regarding mobile devices in the enterprise.

Data loss events, especially ones which require an organization to notify the public, are expensive. Financial costs — along with reputation damage — can potentially destroy an organization.

With technology budgets coming under increased scrutiny during the economic slowdown, Mr. Lucca also discusses how to win a bigger share of the budget for mobile device security:

You have to position security as an enabler to the business.  If there is a perceived value in mobile productivity, your job is to enable the business to do so in a secure manner.

Central management of mobile devices also helps to justify the upfront investment.  Increased control can provide lower cost of ownership in the long run, in addition to improved security and accountability.

Data Security, Portable Storage

USB Flash Drives have become a fixture in the workplace due to their small size and large storage capacity.  These two factors have also made them a security concern for the IT staff.  Users often take advantage of the device portability and use corporate flash drives in unauthorized locations like home PC’s.  With new management tools from Kanguru you can restrict your organization’s flash drives to only authorized locations.

Configuring Devices with Kanguru Administrator Tool

Select Kanguru flash drives can now be configured for IP/Domain Access Control using the Defender Administrator or Bio Administrator tools.  Configuring devices is simple:

1. Select “Enable Access Control”
2. Choose between Blacklist or Whitelist approach
3. Enter allowed or restricted IP Addresses and Domains

The devices will now check for an authorized IP/Domain whenever they are plugged in.  Devices will be disabled on unauthorized machines.

Setting USB Usage Policies

IP/Domain Access Control gives you greater control over your USB usage policies.  Examples include:

• Allow drives to be used inside the corporate domain, prevent employees from using at home
• Restrict usage to company-owned laptops only
• Prevent CLASSIFIED government devices from accessing UNCLASSIFIED networks

Unmanaged USB flash drives leave your control once you hand them out to users.  Kanguru Administrator tools help you take back control over portable device policy.

Remotely Managing USB Devices

Even though your flash drives have left your hands, you can still update your USB policies remotely with Kanguru Remote Management Console.  If the IP address or domain changes at a later date just create an action in the management console and devices will be updated the next time they are plugged in. This function can also be used to allow temporary access to a workstation.  Use this to avoid angry executives who cannot access their presentation at a client’s site!

Data Security

Super-gluing your USB ports is not the best solution in the long run.  USB Flash Drives are so popular for a reason - they are extremely useful and increase the productivity of your employees.  You can have both convenience and security by taking the right steps to secure your USB ports:

1. Select company-approved flash drives – This drive should implement hardware-level encryption that forces the user to encrypt all data.
2. Block all other USB devices – There are number of ways to enforce this through MS Group Policies or Endpoint security applications.
3. Remotely manage your flash drives – Remote management provides control over your devices even after they leave your network.  Disable and delete lost/stolen drives and provide regulators with the audit log that shows where, when and how.

Learn more about Kanguru’s remote management here.

Data Security