\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Ponemon Institute study shows alarming percentage of companies do NOT consider protection of information on a USB drive to be high priority
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0743 IT professionals and IT security practitioners polled
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Less than a third of organisations believe they have adequate policies to prevent USB misuse
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a012,000 customer records lost on average per organisation due to missing USB drives
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Oultines 10 key practices not implemented to prevent data loss<\/p>\n
Sydney, Australia — August 11, 2011 —<\/strong> Kingston Technology, the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the results of a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute looking at USB prevalence and risk in organisations. The study found that inexpensive consumer USB Flash drives are ubiquitous in all manner of enterprise and government environments ? typically with very little oversight or controls, even in the face of frequent and high profile incidents of sensitive data loss.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n A group of 743 IT professionals and IT security practitioners from global companies based in the United States were polled, and all acknowledged the importance of USB drives from a productivity standpoint. The Ponemon Institute is an independent group that conducts studies on critical issues affecting the management and security of sensitive information about people and organisations. The study underscores the pressing need for organisations to adopt more secure USB products and policies. They cautioned, however, about the lack of organisational focus regarding security for these tools to meet appropriate data protection and business objectives. \u00a0<\/p>\n The report lists 10 USB security recommendations that many or most organisations do not practice: \u201cAn unsecured USB drive can open the door for major data loss incidents,\u201d said Larry Ponemon, Chairman and Founder of the Ponemon Institute. \u201cOrganisations watch very carefully, and put a plethora of controls around, what enters their businesses from cyberspace. This study drives home the point that they must also take a more aggressive stance on addressing the risks that exist in virtually every employee\u2019s pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKingston believes a lack of oversight, education and corporate confusion are factors that lead to the overwhelming majority of data loss when it comes to USB Flash drives,\u201d said John Terpening, Secure USB business manager, Kingston. \u201cOrganisations fear that any attempt to control a device like a USB is likely to be futile and costly, both in terms of budget and loss of productivity. However, a simple analysis of what an organisation needs and the knowledge that there is a range of easy-to-use, cost-effective, secure USB Flash drive solutions can go a long way toward enabling organisations and their employees to get a handle on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Ponemon study, more than 40 percent of organisations surveyed report having more than 50,000 USB drives in use in their organisations, with nearly 20 percent having more than 100,000 drives in circulation. The study finds that a whopping 71 percent of respondents do not consider the protection of confidential and sensitive information on USB Flash drives to be a high priority. At the same time, the majority of these same respondents feel that data breaches are caused by missing USB drives.<\/p>\n The most recent example of how easily rogue USB drives can enter an organisation can be seen in a Department of Homeland Security<\/a> test in which USBs were \u2018accidentally\u2019 dropped in government parking lots. Without any identifying markings on the USB stick, 60 percent of employees plugged the drives into government computers.\u00a0 With a \u2018valid\u2019 government seal, the plug-in rate reached 90 percent. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Ponemon study concluded that a staggering 12,000 customer, consumer and employee records were believed to be lost on average by these same companies as a result of missing USBs. According to a previously released Ponemon report, the average cost of a data breach is $214 per record*, making the potential average total cost of lost records to the organisations surveyed for the Ponemon\/Kingston\u00ae USB Flash drive study, reach upwards of $2.5 million (USD). Other key findings in the report include:<\/p>\n Evidence of widespread compromise is apparent:<\/strong> Oversight and control of USBs in enterprises can be better:<\/strong> The full report can be downloaded from the Kingston website<\/a>.<\/p>\n About Ponemon Institute<\/strong> About Kingston Technology Company, Inc.<\/strong> \u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Ponemon Institute study shows alarming percentage of companies do NOT consider protection of information on a USB drive to be high priority \u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0743 IT professionals and IT security practitioners polled \u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Less than a third of organisations believe they have adequate policies to prevent USB misuse \u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a012,000 customer records lost on average<\/p>\n
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Providing employees with approved, quality USB drives for use in the workplace.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Creating policies and training programs that define acceptable and unacceptable uses of USB drives.
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Making sure employees who have access to sensitive and confidential data only use secure USB drives.
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Determining USB drive reliability and integrity before purchasing by confirming compliance with leading security standards and ensuring that there is no malicious code on these tools.
\n5.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Deploying encryption for data stored on the USB drive.
\n6.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Monitoring and tracking USB drives as part of asset management procedures.
\n7.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Scanning devices for virus or malware infections.
\n8.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Using passwords or locks.
\n9.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Encrypting sensitive data on USB drives.
\n10.\u00a0 Having procedures in place to recover lost USB drives.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Nearly 50 percent of organisations confirmed lost drives containing sensitive or confidential information in the past 24 months.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The majority of those organisations (67 percent) confirmed that they had multiple loss events \u2013 in some cases, more than 10 separate events.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Free USB sticks from conferences\/trade shows, business meetings and similar events are used by 72 percent of employees\u2019 ? even in organisations that mandate the use of secure USBs.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0In terms of policies and controls, of the hundreds of IT professionals and IT security professionals polled, only 29 percent felt that their organisations had adequate policies to prevent USB misuse.<\/p>\n
\nThe Ponemon Institute is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organisations in a variety of industries.<\/p>\n
\nKingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world\u2019s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. Kingston designs, manufactures and distributes memory products for desktops, laptops, servers, printers, and Flash memory products for PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players. Through its global network of subsidiaries and affiliates, Kingston has manufacturing facilities in California, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and sales representatives in the United States, Taiwan, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Europe, Russia, Turkey, and Latin America. For more information, please visit www.kingston.com\/anz<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"