Data Security and 2GB USB Sticks…

USB flash ram devices continue to come down in price and get bigger in capacity.  This is a data security nightmare.

Yet the only computer technology related news items we see talk about the effect of video games and possible legislation to combat this epidemic of children playing games.

My god, what a terrible world! 

Meanwhile data goes missing – we know of 6 high profile incidents in the UK in the past 12 months that involved either laptops or optical discs, yet no one dare mention the effect that USB sticks have on this, because no one knows the true figures.

IT departments in British government agencies aren’t geared to detect who saves what onto what device – an information security nightmare isn’t just a possibility, it is happening now.

Data can easily be dropped onto a USB flash drive or other flash storage unit in no time at all, and slipped out of virtually any office.

Put simply, this is a culture and government that hasn’t the first idea of its responsibility to data security, technology use and policies and procedures that public service departments like to repeatedly tell us are in place are not worth the paper they are written on if the people supposedly adhering to them are incompetent.

When the general public’s records can be stored on writable CDs, DVDs, USB drives, mobile phones, etc, why are department’s IT departments/information security bosses allowing users (staff) access to these devices?

What need does any standard office have for a 2gb USB flash drive, capable of holding 2000 (TWO THOUSAND) floppy disks of data?

It is such a serious issue, in an age when we the populace are being ordered to surrender various liberties and trust government supposedly for our own protection; yet they cannot promise us anything, and certainly can’t keep a lid on our most sensitive information.

The system is flawed, and we as a culture – both in the UK, Europe and the USA – need to adapt. These Governments need to act quickly, and either lead by example, or step down.

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