Businesses already made tense by government posturing regarding dire consequences for lack of customer data security are facing an increased risk based on the ubiquitousness of mobile media storage devices, of which Apple's iPod is the most prominent. Every pair of white earphones seen connected to the hip, briefcase or shirt pocket of your subway riding bretheren is a potential secuity catastrophe waiting to happen.

Via Vnuet.com:

Pods open backdoor for data theft - UK firms still ignore dangers of portable media drives

Robert Jaques
vnunet.com
13 Jun 2005

The majority of UK firms are leaving their networks open to malware and data theft by turning a blind eye to widespread employee use of removable media devices such as iPods, MP3 players and USB flash drives. Research published today claims that a staggering two-thirds of IT professionals who use USB flash drives at work admitted that they did not protect them with encryption even though they are aware of the associated dangers.

According to the survey of 300 UK IT professionals, most UK organisations have yet to address the problem of removable media. The poll found that such devices are being used in 84 per cent of companies and, on average, a third of employees are using them in the office. Some 90 per cent of those surveyed said they were aware of the potential danger that removable media presents, and a third of organisations admitted that removable media is being used without authorisation.

"With removable media plummeting in price, soaring memory capacity and more people using them at work, companies need to be aware of how easy it is for staff to use them, lose them or take competitive information away on them, all in the palm of their hands," the study, commissioned by mobile security firm Pointsec, warned...

Martin Allen, managing director at Pointsec UK, added "There seems little point in companies spending vast sums of money on information security if they're letting staff use these devices at work which allow unhindered access to vast quantities of sensitive company information."

The full article appears here.

Now The Daily Caveat won't be surrendering its iPod anytime soon (you can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead hands) but considering that even your six dollar-an-hour data entry temp drone can afford enough mobile data storage to download the personal details of every man and woman listed in the company database, business in both the U.S. and the U.K. may want to consider strategies to pre-empt potential thefts and the potential public relations disasters the inevitably follow.

-- MDT

Labels: Apple, database