While lifestyle IT accessories such as iPods and PDAs may appear totally innocent, the fact is that in the wrong hands these removable media devices can present a serious endpoint security risk to any organization. And with the average financial impact of each security breach now exceeding US$200,000, the cost of doing nothing has never been higher.

DeviceWall minimizes the endpoint security risks of data theft, unathorized data transfer and introduction of malicious content by actively managing the following device types:

iPods and media players

Employers are reporting a steady rise in the number of media player devices being brought into the workplace. While some staff might simply want to listen to the music already stored on the player, increasingly employees are retrieving songs already downloaded to their PCs using the company’s high-speed internet connections. This causes a number of issues for the employer, not least among which are the vicarious liability associated with copyright infringement (even paid-for music downloads are usually the property of the employee, not the employer whose networks they sit on) and the use of corporate resources to store large amounts of personal data.

USB sticks and memory cards: USB lock down

While an employer may at least notice the presence of a media player, they are much less likely to spot someone with a memory card or USB stick. But with a data capacity of up to 2GB and no specialist software required to connect the device to a PC, USB sticks and memory cards present perhaps the greatest risks to the integrity of the network. DeviceWall essentially functions as a USB lock, while still allowing granular access controls to to administrators to grant read and write privilges to specific devices at the user level.

With costs starting from as little as $8.00, accessibility has never been easier.

PDAs and mobile phones

PDAs and mobile phones are now commonplace, with style and novelty often exceeding practical use. Around most offices these devices rarely warrant a second glance. Yet in the hands of a disgruntled employee or opportunistic contractor, these present a highly effective means of copying sensitive from the network.

Whether by accident or design the introduction of any of these devices to a network also carries the endpoint securiyt risk of virus or other malicious code. Often the other system to which the device will be connected is the owner’s home PC. In contrast to the employer’s system which will have a range of software in place to detect and prevent virus' home systems often have little or nothing in place.

Stopping unfriendly wireless connections

DeviceWall doesn't just prevent unwanted local connections; it can also stop valuable company-owned assets becoming exposed to potentially dangerous wireless connections.

DeviceWall enables managers to disable any on-board WiFi, Infrared and Bluetooth adapters. This prevents corporate PCs connecting to unsecured wireless networks and stops Bluetooth ports being hacked into by criminals outside the organization.

Unlike USB ports, where total lockdown can hurt business productivity, wireless data ports are used exclusively for data and as such, locking them down can be an effective security measure.