IBM Employees Can't Use Removable Storage Anymore

From	"Buzzsaw Checkerling" <buzzsaw01@aol.com>
Newsgroups	alt.politics.trump, talk.politics.misc, comp.std.c, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, comp.security.misc, alt.society.liberalism, rec.arts.tv
Subject	IBM Employees Can't Use Removable Storage Anymore
Followup-To	alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Date	2018-05-11 06:23 +0000
Organization	Knowing How To Use A Tool
Message-ID	<xn0l9tfxl2xdfbl00h@reader.albasani.net> (permalink)

Cross-posted to 7 groups.

Followups directed to: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh

Show all headers | View raw

USB sticks, SD cards, and portable hard drives are all very useful, but
now banned at IBM.

by Matthew Humphries
May 10, 2018
http://www.pcmag.com

Security trumps convenience, and IBM is taking that to the next level
with its employees. The company has decided that removable storage
devices are just too risky to use, so they've been banned.

As The Register reports, IBM's global chief information security
officer, Shamla Naidoo, recently informed all employees that data
transfers to removable portable storage devices is now prohibited. That
includes USB sticks, SD cards, and any form of portable hard drive.

Instead of portable storage, IBM wants everyone using the cloud and
more specifically, IBM's own File Sync and Share service, which it also
offers to enterprise customers. That may work for IBM employees on
campus, but what about those out in the field carrying out repairs and
upgrades? Rather than having a patch on a USB stick, secure cloud
access will need to be established instead.

IBM's lock down on portable storage is worldwide and will be
implemented within the next few weeks. As for the reason why the
company is taking such drastic action, Naidoo explains, "the possible
financial and reputational damage from misplaced, lost or misused
removable portable storage devices must be minimised."

It's hard to argue against that. USB sticks and SD cards are very easy
to forget or lose, and whoever finds them will usually check what they
contain. Removing them from the equation completely solves that
problem, but the cloud access replacing it needs to be rock solid. It
looks likely USB storage sticks will quickly be replaced with USB 4G
LTE sticks.

______________
"Dear Obama, We would like to 'Make the Nobel Peace Prize Great Again'.
Please return yours so it can be given to the person who actually
earned it."

Back to comp.security.misc | Previous | Next | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

IBM Employees Can't Use Removable Storage Anymore "Buzzsaw Checkerling" <buzzsaw01@aol.com> - 2018-05-11 06:23 +0000

csiph-web