All in a spin over USB sticks

Trade

2 March 2011

Security leak: A data security breach in a laundrette could have dire consequences . . . and there’s still no word on all those missing socks

Laundrettes and dry cleaners last year found enough USB sticks, forgotten in pockets, to fill several tumble driers. More than 17,000 of the ubiquitous thumb drives were rescued from a deadly dunking when staff checked men’s pockets.

The statistic came out in the wash when data protection specialists Credant Technologies ran a survey to find out if laundrettes and dry cleaners discovered many overlooked USB sticks. The tally of over 17,000 is a 400% increase on the numbers unearthed in a survey the previous year.

Credant’s marketing VP, Sean Glynn, notes: “The number is staggering, reflecting growth in IT consumerisation as people carry ever more mobile devices.

Glynn adds that careless customers who leave the USB sticks in pockets “create a potential risk for their employers if these devices contain proprietary information and end up in the hands of criminals.”

USBs are the cheapest and most convenient means of storing private data. The downside is that they are also the most easily lost.

Credant says that, with so many thousands of USBs left in dry cleaners alone, there’s an increasing probability that there’s valuable corporate data on them, presenting a significant potential security risk for firms.

Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office now has the power to issue fines of up to

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