Organizations at risk from unsecured USB flash drives 10 April, 2008 By Mark Cox

Users revealed the data files most likely to be copied to a personal flash drives include customer records (25 per cent), financial information (17 per cent), business plans (15 per cent), employee records (13 per cent), marketing plans (13 per cent), intellectual property (6 per cent), and source code (6 per cent).

Survey data indicated the portability of USB flash drives represents a significant risk of data loss. Approximately one in ten (12 per cent) of corporate end users reported finding a flash drive in a public place. Additionally, when asked to pick the three most likely actions they would take if they found a flash drive in a public place, 55 per cent indicated they would view the data.

"Most CIOs are aware that data leaks can result in identity theft, compromise of intellectual property, and loss of trade secrets, as well as significant PR and financial damage to organizations," said Gil Mildworth, Senior Director of Marketing for SanDisk's Enterprise Division. "Our survey demonstrates that, while there is some awareness of potential risks involved with unsecured USB flash drives, corporate IT execs need more effective policies, education, and technology solutions in order to mitigate the risks. Only a top-down effort involving intelligent device management, data monitoring, and centralized policy enforcement will sufficiently reduce risks, while allowing organizations to reap the productivity benefits of enhanced mobility."

Survey results demonstrated that while some organizations have taken steps to implement policies and educate users about proper USB flash drive usage, their actions are primarily reactive. According to IT respondents, more than two-thirds (67 per cent) are implementing or have implemented policies as a result of a data or security breach in their organization. Additionally, only slightly more than half (52 per cent) of all of IT respondents have implemented an endpoint security solution.

Awareness of corporate USB flash drive usage policies is varied among respondents. Twenty-three per cent of end users are either not familiar at all with their organization's policies regarding flash drive usage, or are aware that they exist but aren't familiar with specific details.

At the same time, almost half (44 per cent) of end users revealed that, to their knowledge, their organization does not have a policy that forbids copying corporate data on personal USB flash drives. Another 16 per cent were not aware of an existing policy, while 40 per cent reported their company does have a policy forbidding corporate data on personal flash drives.

IT manager responses were consistent with end users. Twenty-one per cent described their employees' understanding of policies as only limited, while 33 per cent were described as having moderate understanding, 28 per cent reported as having good understanding, and 19 per cent reported as having complete understanding. When asked about training, IT respondents reported that employees are trained either once per year on policies around USB flash drive usage (33 per cent); that they are trained more than once per year (24 per cent); that employees receive training only once when hired (22 per cent); that they are trained only on an as-needed basis (17 per cent); and that they never train employees (3 per cent).

Some 41 per cent of corporate IT managers report they are at least somewhat uncomfortable with the level of USB flash drive usage in their organization, revealing a significant level of potential risk. Corporate end users validated their concerns by reporting that one out of every five have little to no awareness about the risks involved with transporting corporate data on flash drives (21 per cent), revealing a significant potential for data loss.

SanDisk's report on USB flash drive usage in the enterprise was a result of phone surveys, conducted in the U.S. in March 2008 by Applied Research-West for SanDisk, of both corporate end users and corporate IT managers. The goal of the surveys was to learn more about flash drive usage in the enterprise, as well as the awareness of potential risks involved with transporting corporate data on personal flash drives.