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iPod: Your Portable Corporate Hellraiser
MrAndrews writes "In an article on ZDNet UK, a Gartner says that "Companies should consider banning portable storage devices such as Apple's
iPod from corporate networks as they can be used to introduce malware or
steal corporate data" I recently came into contact with a similar policy at a consulting firm that was concerned that top-secret information might escape through my USB watch, and made me leave it at the front desk every day. In that case, I know it was absurd overkill ... but is this concern a legitimate concern? No more music on the way into the office?"
Not to skirt the question, but is this really "absurd overkill?" I'm sure that USB pens/watches/etc have been a boon to corporate espionage. With a USB storage device, you don't have to worry about burning CDs or emailing your stolen information off-site.
Having said that, I do think that some companies need to quit treating their employees like potential criminals. But if you work for a company like mine, where the data is the company's life-blood I can completely understand why they'd want to keep your USB and other storage devices (like iPods) out of their space. (thin clients would have gone a long way towards solving this problem, but that's another discussion)
In that case, I know it was absurd overkill ... but is this concern a legitimate concern? No more music on the way into the office?"
No, its just a matter of scale. There are no real legitimate concerns, but every company will balance employee happiness vs the 1 in 10000 chance something will go horribly wrong with a USB watch, and just ban everything outright.
I work for a casino, and we don't allow our employees to bring in such devices either. I'm sure it still happens, but such policies are important when your customer database is vital to your income.
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NSFWI recently came into contact with a similar policy at a consulting firm that was concerned that top-secret information might escape through my USB watch, and made me leave it at the front desk every day. In that case, I know it was absurd overkill ...
How is that overkill? Sounds like a common-sense move for a firm that wants to take steps so that sensitive information doesn't just walk out the door. It's not that much different than walking in with a USB CD burner under your arm.
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I recently came into contact with a similar policy at a consulting firm that was concerned that top-secret information might escape through my USB watch, and made me leave it at the front desk every day.
That's actually pretty generous if you're actually serious about the information the consultant handled being Top Secret. Even if it isn't, that's a much better alternative (for you) than being "let go" because you continued to wear a prohibited device after being told not to.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
Cute.
Makes me thankful for my original iPod with it's Firewire connectivity only, there's no firewire ports in this office.
Yes, like you're going to win that arguement at the security door/HR rep/etc. "But my ipod only has a firewire interface, unable to connect to the computers here!"
To them, that sounds like technical nonsense that makes you even more suspecious. "He mentioned fire!"
Well, that's a pretty legitimate complaint, especially if you work in a secure building. You can't just be coming in and out with a portable hard drive and copying mechanism every day if you have secret clearance and work on DOD stuff, so it makes sense that other companies would follow suit. Besides, it's not like CD players, tape players, mp3 cd players, radios, live365.com, etc. don't exist! Just like checking your guns before entering a saloon makes sense, so does this. Sure, you might not use it, but if you did, people would sue.
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Banning personal portable storage devices (iPods, USB, powerful calculators w/ a computer connection, etc) is pretty much standard (and smart!) pratice when either government or industry classified/proprietary information is available. The risks are simply too great... the chance of soldiers dying due to a security violation or a company going under due to industrial espionage greatly trumps your desire to have a silly USB watch on your wrist all the time. If you don't like that reality, then don't take jobs that put you in contact with that sort of information in the first place.
_sig_ is away
Those in charge of company security should remember that these same employees bringing in iPods are the ones who were issued key cards to get into the building. Companies have no choice but to give their workers the benefit of the doubt.
Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a soportar Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a espabilar
Please explain how to secure a network so that hte users dont have access to data but can still do their job.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Companies should consider hiring trusted professionals. If you hire quality, professional employees and explain the policy against putting corporate data on personal devices, this should not be a problem.
Believe it or not, most professionals want to do a good job and take pride in their work. If you set reasonable policies and explain them clearly, most will want to follow them.
Do you want to grant someone enough access to your data that they could copy it onto an iPod if you don't trust them to abide by your policies? If they have that kind of access to the data, copying it to an iPod is far from the only or best way to get it out, and you're just adding an inconvenience to your employees' lives without meaningfully increasing your own security. If you believe that banning these devices would help, your problems run much deeper and you should rethink the way you're doing business.
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The result? Now everyone walks around with a USB drive to move files around, or they email them to and from gmail, etc. (OR they use their iPods/Dell Pods, SonyPods)
So the system, overall, is a LOT less secure because all the company's assets are kicking around in email and USB thumb drives. But the folks in IT can cluck their tounges and think they did something useful.
Best Buy can have you arrested
The employees at companies using this policy likey have access to confidential information. Copying that to the usb storage device and walking out the door is very possible, and the only way to secure the network against this is to actually ban the devices from entry. It's absurd to just declare that a company enforcing this policy does not "run a secure network", because banning people from read access to information necessary for their job is not going to work.
can't telnet from the school due to policies? just bring Putty on a memory stick ... I'm confused, wouldn't this be better addressed with a packet filter instead of removing the telnet binary? What happens if a kid brings a laptop in?
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lds
Just one more. What about printers? Oh yeah, pens and paper?
For better or worse, personal storage is going to increase. Cellphones, watches, ipods, all these things are becomming increasingly necessary to remain competativly productive in the modern world. Companies that dont figure out how to allow employees to use PDAs or cellphones or USB thumbdrives are going to find themselves at a disadvantage relative to companies that allow their employees to discover new ways to increase their productivity.
Not everybody is a criminal or has criminal intentions. If you don't trust an employee with an iPod, please explain why you would trust them to have access to the data in order to do their job?
A policy against iPods and other USB or other portable devices applied blindly is illusionary security at best. There are countless ways for a dishonest employee to steal data - the only mitigating factor is going to be how secure the network is - that should be the primary focus of any system administrator.
Storage devices are security threats that should be taken seriously. The best way is not to refuse employees listening to music but rather
* hide computers away or lock them up so they can't be physically accessed. This should be combined with tight firewalls for outgoing traffic.
or
* make limitations in the software so USB storage devices or firefire disks simply won't work. Of course users can't have administrative rights.
or
* disallow sensitive information from reaching employees computers. Store things on secure servers.
I'm right now sitting at work on one of the largest corporations in the telecom business and we sure as hell don't have enough security.
Ciryon
A cheaper, and more secure, alternative would be to use a floppy disk as an ID device. They put it in, their network map shows up, they copy the data. They remove the device, their network map disappears, and they go home.
It has several advantages...first, they don't have to remember to "disconnect" the flash drive. Less chance of losing data. Second, you still have that mental association between the data and the floppy. Third, the data is on a central server, where backups are made regularly. Fourth...the floppy could be formatted to only, say, 512 bytes of data. (I'm sure you can tweak superformat's settings to do that...) Nowhere near enough space to remove sensitive data from the premisis, let alone a normal filesystem.)
And if the user loses his floppy, issue him a new "key" and his old data. If you want, add some sort of CRC to the numerical key on the floppy, so that data corruption is less of a risk. Or put a backup of your only sector on the other side of the disk.
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Corporate espionage is something that is feared; however, all this really does in inconvenience those who are using these devices legitimately. I would trust that in an organization who has a real security concern, that they would have appropriate ACLs in place so that data theft would be limited to what the user that already has security clearance.
Now if you have already cleared someone to be viewing and working with such data, you have much bigger problems than fearing them stealing it with a USB device. It's like trusting your employees with your business in their day to day operations but keeping office supplies under lock and key. It just doesn't make sense. If someone is intent on ripping you off, they would't go for the small stuff. Similiarly, if your business depends on these people who have access to such "crown jewel" data you'd better hope that you have a good hiring process and that you are keeping your employees happy.
A side rant: so you're all concerned about people with USB devices; yet, you're fine with shipping your data off to some foreign land for outsourcing. Hmmm... If only the world were based on logic!
Typical heavy handed IT lunacy. You're making it harder to use a possibly essential device on a machine you didn't know might need it, creating more work for yourself while gaining little to no security, as potential theives would just go to a machine that didn't have USB disabled.
I've been subverting this type of network policy since second grade, and it's easy because it lulls you into a false sense of security. "I don't have to worry about X machine, I've locked it down!" Meanwhile, us grade school kids are running video games through the shell in WordPerfect.
Want a secure network? Stop with the locks and start with the spies. Befriend your users and make them your eyes and ears. Remind them not to trust anybody and help them identify suspicious activities. Most of all, make them care. That's tough to do. But unlike being an asshole, it actually works.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
Does not prevent someone from booting up with a Knoppix CD and accessing the network and a USB key.
Alert! A new device, known as a "Briefcase" has been increasing in popularity in the workplace. While useful for ordinary business it brings with it some sinister baggage. This nefarious device serves to conceal a large amount of objects, such as sensitive data and staplers, in a small space, enabling employee theft and espionage. While it's true that file folders have been commonplace in corporate environments for years, this new product threatens to bring unforeseen and catastrophic results. Ban it before your company falls apart and you have to spend the rest of your life living in the street trying to support your starving family.
I do think it makes sense for companies that already employ policies like searching employee belongings and metal detectors to add USB storage devices (and any data storage medium for that matter) to the list of things they check for. If you really needed to bring one in, you could have some sort of approval/checking process. As far as most companies go, I think it makes sense to judge based on whether they seem to be causing problems in the workplace, and if so, banning them or finding some other way to fix the problems. I think it would be a good idea to do virus-checking on insertion of any removeable media.
I thought this was a particularly interesting quote:
"Another potential danger is that the devices -- that typically make use of USB and FireWire -- could be used to steal large amounts of company data as they are faster to download to than CDs."
I think they've been watching too many movies. I highly doubt that most downloading of corporate data happens in a down-to-the-second race against corporate security. I think it's much more likely that most data is stolen by those with official access and all the time in the world. And I may be naive, but I think a corporate spy would be able to think of a better way to export data than an iPod.
The barn door has always been open. Same old problem just a different set of devices. What has changed is the ease, speed and volume of information that can be copied. Think of the fear that was generated in paranoid organizations after the wholesale adoption of photocopiers.
A organization can best deal with the issue by treating their workers with a sense of respect. It will not prevent the employees with criminal intent from stealing information but innoculate honest workers from feeling a sense of entitlement.
A possible technological fix is to ensure that copying data to/from a removable device is logged. This does not prevent the employee from taking work home but does allow for a system administrator to track where the data is going. However this means nothing unless the logs are reviewed. It is essentially a file-nanny.
It does require that a security policy that is appropiate for the organizational goals and for departmental specifica goals.
Research is what I doing when I don't know what I am doing - Werner von Braun