Privacy: Do You Know Where your USB Ports Have Been Lately?
by Elizabeth
You can’t control everything, and let’s face it, data privacy policy management is not the most glamorous part of your day. In fact, if you are not in a regulated industry, there is a pretty good chance you are not even monitoring where your data goes after an employee accesses it, let alone accesses it from a mobile device.
In this NetworkWorld slide presentation “USB Device: The Big Hole in Network Security” you’ll see that of those businesses surveyed, only 50% have an “approved” USB device for employees. There are some great products out there to help with securing transportable data, such as the Encryptx/Imation SecureFlash solution. But how does this help on mobile devices?
Your mobile data privacy policy management depends on knowing what that device (and port) is doing in real-time – while you have the ability to proceed with, or block the download. If it’s going to an approved device, such as a company sponsored smartphone or the Imation SecureFlash drive, let the download proceed. If it is an unapproved, device, like the employee’s personal laptop (via their phone), you can prevent the download from happening.
Remember, mobile is different. You need to have access to some real-time context about the device, the user and their location if you want to effectively extend your data privacy policies to mobile users. So not only can you know where your USB ports have been lately, but also your memory card or any other “attached” device or drive.
A little bit of planning and some real-time mobile context can help you effectively manage the 2nd “P” of mobile Web success – Privacy.
Posted in: Privacy, What: Device Information