By: Terry Detty
The last few years we have seen an increase in sales of the fancy looking USB flash drives. They have been made as small as a keychain figurine or a tie clip. Yes, USB flash drives to wear on your tie. Now that these flash drives have made their way to everyone because of the affordable pricing, many workplaces are banning them from the office.
It is one of the best ways to steal company information without anyone knowing about it. Many companies have as far as disabling the USB ports on employee’s computers. This may seem a little extreme, but companies have to protect their information.
Although some businesses give these little units to their employees for advertising purposes, they are not allowed to use them in the workplace. They are basically given as an advertisement with the company logo on them for others to see. There are so many harmful affects that these flash drives can have on a business.
Because of their different shapes and designs, businesses have decided to pull the plug on the USB ports. You might look at someone’s keychain and think that little gadget they have is cute, but that cute little gadget could ruin your business.
This type of theft and the creation of the USB flash drives brought concern from many businesses and individuals alike. What if you are individual that carries around a USB flash drive in their purse or on a keychain would lose the unit?
All information would be lost and open to anyone who finds the flash drive. This causes concern for concern for how to properly store the flash drives that have sensitive information recorded. Carrying around a flash drive is just like carrying around your credit card. If you lose it, you are vulnerable to fraud.
For the most part, flash drives have allowed people to download music, pictures and files and free up room on the laptop or the desktop computer. These are also valuable in the event you would lose information on your computer due to a hacker or a virus. In this case, the USB flash drives are extremely necessary.
You can buy different size flash drives to hold different amounts of information. If you download a huge amount of music, you may want a USB flash drive that can accommodate all the files or more than one.
New technology has enhanced the use of the computer for more than one reason. People can now use flash drives for file storage and businesses can storage vital information on these drives in order to keep it safe from potential security leaks. Although businesses ban the use of the flash drives from employee’s, the company themselves do use these as way’s to conduct business during travels. They can make presentations and instead of carrying a laptop along on their travels, they just take the flash drive.
Today, with the higher security in airports, it is always important to check with new security rules before attempting to take a flash drive on the airplane to make sure it will be accepted. In most cases, you will find that they are allowed. Other business concerns the flash drives are a valuable and handy little piece of technology that will help secure important files and information.
Article Source:http://www.articlebiz.com/
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Disposing of Your USB Flash Drives
By Chris Proth
After using your USB Flash Drive for a couple of years you'll probably find it dated old looking and of poor spec compared to something else you could buy for half the price. Not surprisingly you'll probably trade it in for a newer USB Flash Drive with more data capacity. However before throwing your flash drive away, it is important that you erase any sensitive data held on the USB Flash Drive in case it gets into the wrong hands. Giving out your own personal data could lead to somebody committing fraud against you; losing somebody else's could lead to a criminal conviction.
USB Flash Drives are seen as a security threat by many businesses and government agencies; this concern is not unjustified as there have been a number of security breaches as a consequence of their misuse. US Military USD Flash Drives were found be sold in markets in Afghanistan, some of these Flash Drives contained names of suspects and the personal details of over 600 troops. This information could have been used for all sorts of purposes if it had got into the wrong hands, and was caused, one would hope, by ignorance of the soldiers who disposed of them.
To prevent such leaks organisations should have policies set for the disposal of memory products such as hard drives and USB Flash Drives. One commonly used option is file shredding, which deletes the chosen files and folders and then writes over them in random patterns, the more this is done the harder it is to recover the information from the disk.
Chris Proth is an avid commentator on promotional technology for USB Flash Drive Chris Proth recommends Flashbay .Ltd
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Proth
After using your USB Flash Drive for a couple of years you'll probably find it dated old looking and of poor spec compared to something else you could buy for half the price. Not surprisingly you'll probably trade it in for a newer USB Flash Drive with more data capacity. However before throwing your flash drive away, it is important that you erase any sensitive data held on the USB Flash Drive in case it gets into the wrong hands. Giving out your own personal data could lead to somebody committing fraud against you; losing somebody else's could lead to a criminal conviction.
USB Flash Drives are seen as a security threat by many businesses and government agencies; this concern is not unjustified as there have been a number of security breaches as a consequence of their misuse. US Military USD Flash Drives were found be sold in markets in Afghanistan, some of these Flash Drives contained names of suspects and the personal details of over 600 troops. This information could have been used for all sorts of purposes if it had got into the wrong hands, and was caused, one would hope, by ignorance of the soldiers who disposed of them.
To prevent such leaks organisations should have policies set for the disposal of memory products such as hard drives and USB Flash Drives. One commonly used option is file shredding, which deletes the chosen files and folders and then writes over them in random patterns, the more this is done the harder it is to recover the information from the disk.
Chris Proth is an avid commentator on promotional technology for USB Flash Drive Chris Proth recommends Flashbay .Ltd
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Proth
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Lightweight and Convenient USB Drives
By Shawn Paul
The USB flash drives were first introduced in 1998. The popularity of USB drives has increased since then. The USB drive is actually a plug and play device used for storage purpose. USB drives use flash memory. The USB drives are so lightweight that you can even attach it to a key chain. The popular names of USB drives are the keychain and flash drives. The USB drives are alternatives to the other storage devices like the compact disk, zip drive and floppy disks. These USB drives are easily compatible as the operating system of the computer recognizes the USB drive when it is plugged into the USB port. The operating system recognizes the USB drive by assigning a removable drive letter to it. The USB drives are compatible with both computers and digital cameras. These drives are very compact. To store data, the USB drive usually uses USB 1.1 or 2.0 interface.
The USB flash drives are the form of NAND type flash memory. This type of flash memory was developed for the purpose of transferring of data information. The NAND type memory has the new and latest technology to record huge amounts of data and also has fast writing/erasing speed. USB drive is composed of small circuit board which is sealed by a secure case made of metal or rubber. The purpose of the ssecure case is to protect the inner circuit board. It also has a serial bus connector.
The new and advanced design of the USB drives help them to record more amount of data. The USB drives provide ease and convenient to its users. After its attachment to the system, it does not require the system to reboot like other removable drives require. These USB drives also do not rely on external power supply or the batteries. The drives do not depend upon the platform. In order to make compatible the USB drives to the older systems that do not have the USB ports, the manufacturers have added some additional features to the USB drives. These features are like the downloadable drivers and password protection.
The USB drives benefits its users because it can retain the data for longer periods after being unplugged from the computer. The data in the USB drive is also retained when the drive is left in and the computer is powered down. That is why the USB drives are considered as the most convenient drives for backup needs and the transferring of data. The USB drives are the substitutes for the floppy disks. The USB flash drives are faster, reliable and can store more amounts of data as compared to the previous devices.
The USB drives usually have 3 components. The first component is the type A male connector. This connector interfaces with the host computer system. The storage and the balance of information are done by the USB mass storage controller. The USB mass storage controller increases the process of data transfer, encryption and decoding. The USB flash drive provides the best quality of output with the help of the crystal oscillator.
The floppy disks had the problem of not being properly read by the floppy drive, and therefore, it caused problems to its users while transferring of the data. The floppy disks had many parts inside them that were movable that is why most of the time the floppy drives were not able to read the data. The USB drives have overcome this problem.
The USB flash drives were first introduced in 1998. The popularity of USB drives has increased since then. The USB drive is actually a plug and play device used for storage purpose. USB drives use flash memory. The USB drives are so lightweight that you can even attach it to a key chain. The popular names of USB drives are the keychain and flash drives. The USB drives are alternatives to the other storage devices like the compact disk, zip drive and floppy disks. These USB drives are easily compatible as the operating system of the computer recognizes the USB drive when it is plugged into the USB port. The operating system recognizes the USB drive by assigning a removable drive letter to it. The USB drives are compatible with both computers and digital cameras. These drives are very compact. To store data, the USB drive usually uses USB 1.1 or 2.0 interface.
The USB flash drives are the form of NAND type flash memory. This type of flash memory was developed for the purpose of transferring of data information. The NAND type memory has the new and latest technology to record huge amounts of data and also has fast writing/erasing speed. USB drive is composed of small circuit board which is sealed by a secure case made of metal or rubber. The purpose of the ssecure case is to protect the inner circuit board. It also has a serial bus connector.
The new and advanced design of the USB drives help them to record more amount of data. The USB drives provide ease and convenient to its users. After its attachment to the system, it does not require the system to reboot like other removable drives require. These USB drives also do not rely on external power supply or the batteries. The drives do not depend upon the platform. In order to make compatible the USB drives to the older systems that do not have the USB ports, the manufacturers have added some additional features to the USB drives. These features are like the downloadable drivers and password protection.
The USB drives benefits its users because it can retain the data for longer periods after being unplugged from the computer. The data in the USB drive is also retained when the drive is left in and the computer is powered down. That is why the USB drives are considered as the most convenient drives for backup needs and the transferring of data. The USB drives are the substitutes for the floppy disks. The USB flash drives are faster, reliable and can store more amounts of data as compared to the previous devices.
The USB drives usually have 3 components. The first component is the type A male connector. This connector interfaces with the host computer system. The storage and the balance of information are done by the USB mass storage controller. The USB mass storage controller increases the process of data transfer, encryption and decoding. The USB flash drive provides the best quality of output with the help of the crystal oscillator.
The floppy disks had the problem of not being properly read by the floppy drive, and therefore, it caused problems to its users while transferring of the data. The floppy disks had many parts inside them that were movable that is why most of the time the floppy drives were not able to read the data. The USB drives have overcome this problem.
Monday, August 18, 2008
USB Flash Drives a Security Threat?
By Chris Proth
Progress in new technology, driven by the fall in Nand Flash price, has led to a number of small devices that can hold a significant amount of data. The device that epitomises all of these is the USB Flash Drive. In 1999 a 16MB USB Flash Drive cost £50 now a 4GB USB Flash Drive costs only £10.
USB Flash Drives have been a great friend to businesses over the last few years, making it quick and easy to transfer data from one machine to another and to carry work home to finish without needing to haul around a heavy laptop. However, with flash drives being able to hold ever growing amounts of data and transfer data faster than ever, USB flash drives are being looked at by some companies as one of their biggest threats to security.
The use of USB Flash Drives in business poses three categories of risk: the contraction of a computer virus; the loss of data and the theft of data. All three of these are considerably serious: a computer virus could totally wipe out a company's IT infrastructure and delete their most important files, if the company hasn't an effective data backup this could ruin it; if a company holds sensitive information and loses it, the company could be found to have broken the DPA and could get fined a crippling sum of money, not to mention the damage to its reputation; if a sales person walks out with your entire clients database and gives it to his new firm you're going to lose at least a few customers.
Fortunately there are some solutions out there to reduce the chances of businesses being a victim of one of the sad situations mentioned above. 1. Removal of USB ports - The removal of USB ports is a rather severe reaction to this potential threat and is often a practically difficult one to implement, a lot of firms use USB ports for their mice and keyboards and these would all have to be changed.
2. Encryption of USB Drives - Encryption on USB Flash Drive can take one of two forms either a hardware encryption or software encryption. Forms of hard ware inscription may include only allowing access to the USB Flash Drive after the user has authenticated his or her authority using a password, encryption certificate or biometric authentication (most commonly finger print recognition but sometimes also retina recognition). The encryption of storage media can also be managed via software two examples are Microsoft's Active Directory and Novell's eDirectory, both can be set up to use certificates to data held on USB Flash Drives.
3. Restrict access to important files on critical servers - As with all company information access should be given on a need to basis and taken away from employees as soon as they no longer need that access: if you're going to give someone their notice is it worth letting them have access while they sit it out?
4. Monitor access of company employees to sensitive files - Just because your employees have access to the data doesn't mean they have ant rights to do with as they please. Monitoring their behaviour with sensitive data is the best way to spot any unusual pattern and can give you time to act and stop any possible data leaks.
5. Limit size of data transferred to USB drives- Data transfer restriction software can be used to protect sensitive files by capping the sizes of files that can be copied to a USB Flash Drive. The file size limit simply needs to be set to the size of the smallest sensitive files.
6. Enforce USB Flash Drive policies - Enforcing USB Flash Drive Policies can go a long way to reducing the risk of accidental loss of data, policies alone aren't likely to stop a disgruntled employee from doing any damage. Here are some policies you might want to consider: USB Flash Drives should only be used for data transfer and not storage. Data should not be on USB Flash Drives for over a week. Data should not be transferred to USB flash drives without prior consent form a manager.
7. Firewalls and Anti viruses - Viruses can be contracted from USB Flash Drive just as they can be contracted from any other type of media. To keep yourself safe make sure you have the latest updates installed for whichever antivirus software you use.
Although the removal of USB ports is the only 100% certain way of making sure USB flash drives pose you no risk it is not a solution, the benefits of USB flash drives are vast and getting rid of them would be a step back for computing. By being vigilant to the behaviour of business staff and using one or a variety of the security solutions mentioned above you can protect yourself from flash drive misuse but still benefit from their versatility.
Chris Proth is a writer with a keen interest in the USB Flash Drive market, for promotional USB Flash Drive he recommends Flashbay Ltd.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Proth
Progress in new technology, driven by the fall in Nand Flash price, has led to a number of small devices that can hold a significant amount of data. The device that epitomises all of these is the USB Flash Drive. In 1999 a 16MB USB Flash Drive cost £50 now a 4GB USB Flash Drive costs only £10.
USB Flash Drives have been a great friend to businesses over the last few years, making it quick and easy to transfer data from one machine to another and to carry work home to finish without needing to haul around a heavy laptop. However, with flash drives being able to hold ever growing amounts of data and transfer data faster than ever, USB flash drives are being looked at by some companies as one of their biggest threats to security.
The use of USB Flash Drives in business poses three categories of risk: the contraction of a computer virus; the loss of data and the theft of data. All three of these are considerably serious: a computer virus could totally wipe out a company's IT infrastructure and delete their most important files, if the company hasn't an effective data backup this could ruin it; if a company holds sensitive information and loses it, the company could be found to have broken the DPA and could get fined a crippling sum of money, not to mention the damage to its reputation; if a sales person walks out with your entire clients database and gives it to his new firm you're going to lose at least a few customers.
Fortunately there are some solutions out there to reduce the chances of businesses being a victim of one of the sad situations mentioned above. 1. Removal of USB ports - The removal of USB ports is a rather severe reaction to this potential threat and is often a practically difficult one to implement, a lot of firms use USB ports for their mice and keyboards and these would all have to be changed.
2. Encryption of USB Drives - Encryption on USB Flash Drive can take one of two forms either a hardware encryption or software encryption. Forms of hard ware inscription may include only allowing access to the USB Flash Drive after the user has authenticated his or her authority using a password, encryption certificate or biometric authentication (most commonly finger print recognition but sometimes also retina recognition). The encryption of storage media can also be managed via software two examples are Microsoft's Active Directory and Novell's eDirectory, both can be set up to use certificates to data held on USB Flash Drives.
3. Restrict access to important files on critical servers - As with all company information access should be given on a need to basis and taken away from employees as soon as they no longer need that access: if you're going to give someone their notice is it worth letting them have access while they sit it out?
4. Monitor access of company employees to sensitive files - Just because your employees have access to the data doesn't mean they have ant rights to do with as they please. Monitoring their behaviour with sensitive data is the best way to spot any unusual pattern and can give you time to act and stop any possible data leaks.
5. Limit size of data transferred to USB drives- Data transfer restriction software can be used to protect sensitive files by capping the sizes of files that can be copied to a USB Flash Drive. The file size limit simply needs to be set to the size of the smallest sensitive files.
6. Enforce USB Flash Drive policies - Enforcing USB Flash Drive Policies can go a long way to reducing the risk of accidental loss of data, policies alone aren't likely to stop a disgruntled employee from doing any damage. Here are some policies you might want to consider: USB Flash Drives should only be used for data transfer and not storage. Data should not be on USB Flash Drives for over a week. Data should not be transferred to USB flash drives without prior consent form a manager.
7. Firewalls and Anti viruses - Viruses can be contracted from USB Flash Drive just as they can be contracted from any other type of media. To keep yourself safe make sure you have the latest updates installed for whichever antivirus software you use.
Although the removal of USB ports is the only 100% certain way of making sure USB flash drives pose you no risk it is not a solution, the benefits of USB flash drives are vast and getting rid of them would be a step back for computing. By being vigilant to the behaviour of business staff and using one or a variety of the security solutions mentioned above you can protect yourself from flash drive misuse but still benefit from their versatility.
Chris Proth is a writer with a keen interest in the USB Flash Drive market, for promotional USB Flash Drive he recommends Flashbay Ltd.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Proth
Friday, August 15, 2008
USB Flash Drives - What They Are and Why You Might Want One
By Pamela Lund
If you are an average computer user, you may not be very familiar with USB flash drives (also called USB memory sticks, thumb drives, etc.). Even if you do have a USB flash drive or two, the newest technology is impressive and less expensive than what was available just one or two years ago.
The most impressive technological leap has occurred in the amount of memory USB flash drives can hold. Today, 32GB USB memory sticks the size of a business card cost less than two hundred dollars. 32GB of memory is more memory than some computers have! And 64GB USB flash drives have recently become available.
USB flash drives are also uniquely durable compared to other external storage devices like CDs and DVDs. Since USB flash drives are made with solid-state (no moving parts) technology and are encased in a durable plastic shell, they require no special handling like CDs and DVDs do. A recent Consumer Reports independent lab test showed that some USB memory sticks can survive hours on the dashboard of a hot car and some even survived laundering and drying as if they had been left in a pants pocket.
Another feature that USB flash drives have that can be beneficial is that they offer almost unlimited rewrite-ability. Some USB pens have tested successfully on over 500,000 rewrites. This rewrite capacity makes USB memory sticks a great data storage option when your data changes daily. If you keep a regularly updated Word documents or run a small accounting firm where you need to backup your system daily, this rewrite-ability can be a major plus.
Because of their large storage capacity and sturdiness, USB memory sticks can also be a great way to store important pictures, videos, and documents without fear that an accidental scratch will corrupt your files. USB flash drives also take up very little room, so you can easily add them to your safe deposit box or fireproof box. Or, if backing up data as mentioned above, dropping your USB flash drive in your purse, pocket, or briefcase will not risk its data integrity.
Finally, USB flash drives are great for people who work on different computers regularly. Some USB memory sticks allow you to save your desktop applications, utilities, and personal settings. This allows you to take your preferences with you to any computer that has a USB port. Since almost every computer today has multiple USB ports, personal data portability is a snap if you use your personalized USB drive. For some people, this portability and compatibility is practically a necessity.
If you are an average computer user, you may not be very familiar with USB flash drives (also called USB memory sticks, thumb drives, etc.). Even if you do have a USB flash drive or two, the newest technology is impressive and less expensive than what was available just one or two years ago.
The most impressive technological leap has occurred in the amount of memory USB flash drives can hold. Today, 32GB USB memory sticks the size of a business card cost less than two hundred dollars. 32GB of memory is more memory than some computers have! And 64GB USB flash drives have recently become available.
USB flash drives are also uniquely durable compared to other external storage devices like CDs and DVDs. Since USB flash drives are made with solid-state (no moving parts) technology and are encased in a durable plastic shell, they require no special handling like CDs and DVDs do. A recent Consumer Reports independent lab test showed that some USB memory sticks can survive hours on the dashboard of a hot car and some even survived laundering and drying as if they had been left in a pants pocket.
Another feature that USB flash drives have that can be beneficial is that they offer almost unlimited rewrite-ability. Some USB pens have tested successfully on over 500,000 rewrites. This rewrite capacity makes USB memory sticks a great data storage option when your data changes daily. If you keep a regularly updated Word documents or run a small accounting firm where you need to backup your system daily, this rewrite-ability can be a major plus.
Because of their large storage capacity and sturdiness, USB memory sticks can also be a great way to store important pictures, videos, and documents without fear that an accidental scratch will corrupt your files. USB flash drives also take up very little room, so you can easily add them to your safe deposit box or fireproof box. Or, if backing up data as mentioned above, dropping your USB flash drive in your purse, pocket, or briefcase will not risk its data integrity.
Finally, USB flash drives are great for people who work on different computers regularly. Some USB memory sticks allow you to save your desktop applications, utilities, and personal settings. This allows you to take your preferences with you to any computer that has a USB port. Since almost every computer today has multiple USB ports, personal data portability is a snap if you use your personalized USB drive. For some people, this portability and compatibility is practically a necessity.
Top Uses for a USB Flash Drive
USB flash drives are convenient little gadgets. I remember the days when we were using 1.44 MB floppy drives to move things around. What a pain those were! The capacity was pitiful, giving rise to utilities designed to split up a single file among multiple floppies. Then CDs became the norm. CDs offer much higher capacity, but they do not operate like a hard drive. They are also pretty slow. DVDs offer even higher capacity, but you are still dealing with all the restrictions (and annoyances) of optical media.
USB flash drives are so much better. Today, they offer respectable capacities. USB 2.0 makes them pretty fast. The BIOS of many motherboards even has the capability of booting from a USB drive. They are more dependable then optical media because they cannot be scratched. They are more dependable than even hard drives because they have no moving parts. So, there are a lot of possibilities for these little sticks.
Below, I will go over the most useful uses for your USB flash drive.
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