[...] The possibility of "financial and reputational" damage if staff lost or misused the devices prompted the decision, reported The Register.
Instead, IBM staff who need to move data around will be encouraged to do so via an internal network.
[...] Some IBM departments had been banned from using removable portable media for some time, said Ms Naidoo, but now the decree was being implemented worldwide. IBM staff are expected to stop using removable devices by the end of May.
[...] Security expert Kevin Beaumont said: "It is a brave move by IBM, as USB devices do present a real risk - often it is very easy to extract data from a company via these devices, and introduce malicious software."
[...] Sumir Karayi, chief executive of security company 1E, said IBM's ban was an "overreaction" by security staff who had not realised the many different ways data flowed in and out of an organisation.
[...] On 25 May, the GDPR rules are enacted, which impose heavy fines on organisations that do not do enough to protect sensitive information.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 13 2018, @03:34AM (2 children)
What about internally mounted flash card readers for sneakernet needs?
Or let me guess. The problem is still--still!--auto fucking run and a complete lack of a way to mount a storage device in Windows noexec.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 13 2018, @05:12AM
It's a combination of that and fear of people who (usually with the best of intentions) want to take a document with some super-sensitive stuff home to work on it WITH THEIR MALWARE INFESTED HOME PC!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 14 2018, @07:52AM
No, they are talking about leaks. As in taking moving important data from department A to department B via USB-stick, "oh, I'll just get a coffee on the way", then accidentally dropping the USB stick in the Starbucks parking lot.