Neutralising the USB threat to your business

As Heathrow Airport found out last year, lost or stolen USB drives can expose your organisation to substantial risks such as damage of reputation, loss of customers, or fines.

You can neutralise them by using Encrypted USB drives. Check out our infographic to understand some other quick actions you can take to secure your business from the potential damage that just one unencrypted USB drive can do.

 

 

How can encrypted USB help your business?

Kingston Technology’s encrypted USB drives provide the security needed to protect your confidential business data at all times; protect your organisation’s sensitive and business critical data by standardising on an encrypted Kingston DataTraveler or IronKey Flash drives.

With several models and capacities to choose from to suit all types and sizes of organisation, there’s always one that’s ideal for your company’s needs. Whether mobile data security is a priority, or you have to demonstrate compliance with data-at-rest directives, laws, standards or global regulations such as GDPR, Kingston’s encrypted USB drives are built for all scenarios. Check out this short video of the DTVP30 range to find out more.

 

How we can help

Complete IT Systems and Kingston Technology have the solutions, experience, accreditations and skills to provide your business with the security solutions you need. For more information call us on 01274 396 213 or contact us and we can call you back.

Could your company survive a six-figure fine for USB data breach?

Heathrow Airport received a £120,000 fine late last year for allowing a data breach by way of an un-encrypted USB stick being misplaced and falling into the hands of a national newspaper. The stick, which contained 76 folders and over 1,000 files, was not encrypted or password protected. “The stick held a training video containing […]

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Could your company survive a six-figure fine for data breach?

Heathrow Airport received a £120,000 fine this week for allowing a data breach by way of an un-encrypted USB stick being misplaced and falling into the hands of a national newspaper.

The stick, which contained 76 folders and over 1,000 files was not encrypted or password protected.

“The stick held a training video containing names, dates of birth, vehicle registrations, nationality, passport numbers and expiry, roles, and mobile numbers of 10 individuals involved in a particular greeting party, and also details of between 12 and 50 (exact number unconfirmed) Heathrow aviation security personnel, ” the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) said in its penalty notice.

What did Heathrow get so wrong?

While it’s easy to say that it’s easy to lose a USB stick and that there’s little a company’s directors can do to mitigate such a data breach scenario, in issuing the fine, the ICO also pointed out that less than 2% of Heathrow’s 6,500 staff had even received data protection training.

Other concerns noted during the investigation included the widespread use of removable media in contravention of Heathrow’s own policies and guidance and ineffective controls preventing personal data from being downloaded onto unauthorised or unencrypted media.

This is despite the fact that most businesses now rely more and more on IT to support their activities, and this makes them increasingly vulnerable to threats from hackers, viruses and even from malicious or careless actions their own staff as in the Heathrow case.

How can you ensure your company does not fall victim to data breach?

Having the correct solutions, policies and training in place can make the difference between success and failure for your company – strong IT security has never been so crucial.

Information also needs to be protected if you share it with other organisations. For many businesses, the internet has replaced traditional paper-based methods of exchanging information. It can be sent and received faster, more frequently and in greater volume – but the internet in itself brings its own security issues which businesses must consider.

Having an effective IT security polity in place can help you control and secure information from malicious changes, deletions, data breach, or from unauthorised disclosure.

How we can help

Complete IT Systems has the experience, accreditations and skills to provide your business with the security solutions you need. For more information on how Complete IT Systems can help your business, call us on 0845 873 9631 or contact us and we can call you back.

References

Facebook Extends US Political Ad Ban For Another Month

https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2018/10/heathrow-airport-limited-fined-120-000-for-serious-failings-in-its-data-protection-practices/