Over 66% do not have security policy for removable media

Pointsec Mobile Technologies, provider of enterprise security software for
laptop and desktop PCs, PDAs and smartphones, published results from a survey on
the use of removable media among IT professionals.

The survey that was conducted for the second year in a row shows that the
number of IT professionals who use USB memory sticks, digital media players and
external disks, has doubled compared with last year's results.

Peter Larsson, CEO, Pointsec

The survey this year was conducted amongst 248 IT professionals in the United
Kingdom (many of whom are IT security managers). Over 66 percent of those who
use removable media have no security policy for removable media. Over 65 percent
are aware of the security risk associated with that kind of media that could
easily get lost or fall into the wrong hands.

56 percent of the surveyed are using their mobile storage devices to store
corporate information such as contracts, proposals and other business documents.
22 percent use them to store their customer's name and addresses. Three
percent store passwords and bank account numbers on removable media. Most of
them, 70 percent, use removable media to store downloaded music files.

Only 21 percent have some security in place on their media, such as password
protection or encryption. 12 percent are banning the use of removable media in
the company.

The use of mobile devices and removable media such as USB memory sticks has
increased enormously, not only in the home but also at work. The devices are
small and cheap but they are ticking security bombs if they're not secured
properly, said Peter Larsson, CEO, Pointsec.

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