Credant Technologies, who conducted the survey amongst 100 dry cleaners across the UK, believe it’s not because users are more vigilant, instead they are downloading information onto other handy devices like netbooks and Smartphones.
Date loss from portable devices is still a huge problem. The products are getting smaller and smaller making them easily mislaid or forgotten.
According to Credant, 4,500 memory sticks have been left in people’s pockets as they take their clothes to be washed at their local dry cleaners.
USB thumb drives have now joined wedding rings and lipsticks in the realm of dry cleaning lost and found. But the data stored on these devices could prove priceless if they fall into the wrong hands.
The use of these gadgets does have significant business benefits especially for those who work from home or travel as part of their job.
However in these cases the onus is on the individual to ensure the data is protected particularly if the company hasn’t enforced an encryption policy on the devices.
In October last year Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust informed the Information Commissioner’s Office that three unencrypted USB sticks containing sensitive patient information had been lost or stolen. An investigation showed staff were unaware of their role in protecting patient information.
Can you trust your staff not to leave valuable data in their jacket pocket?
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.