USB flash drives present new data theft risk

Posted by Caitlin on September 12th, 2008

A USB flash drive containing detailed information about British military troop movements was recently found in a nightclub in Cornwall. BBC News reports that more than 120 flash drives have been lost or stolen from the Ministry of Defense since 2004, many of which contained secret or restricted information. Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report warns of the security threat posed by USB drives and other forms of portable data storage. USB drives are small, easy to lose or steal, are rarely encrypted or protected by any type of security software, and are often used to store sensitive data. Symantec also speculates that in the near future, flash drives and other small storage devices may be used by hackers and identity thieves as a distribution system for malicious code. Symantec cites on instance in which digital picture frames were used to distribute a Trojan program.

Like laptop computers and iPhones, small portable media storage devices can put you at risk for identity theft if lost or stolen. If you are concerned about identity theft, we recommend an identity theft protection service. To learn more about identity theft protection services, see our reviews and comparison.