The Threat of iPod

july 5, 2004

Here is an interesting security warning from "those that know".

Companies should consider banning portable storage devices such as Apple's iPod from corporate networks as they can be used to introduce malware or steal corporate data, according to an analyst. Small portable storage products can bypass perimeter defences like firewalls and antivirus at the mailserver, and introduce malware such as Trojans or viruses onto company networks, claimed analyst Gartner in a report issued this week. Analysts have warned for some time of the dangers of using portable devices, but the report points out these also now include "disk-based MP3 players, such as Apple's iPod, and digital cameras with smart media cards, memory sticks, compact flash and other memory media."
I guess they do have a good point. This is similar to the reports of people walking into CompUSA stores and stealing a copy of Microsoft Office X with iPods (hook up iPod to demo computer at CompUSA, drag-and-drop Office X to iPod, leave...) I wonder if companies are going to take this to heart. Maybe we'll all have to get CD players or something. That would suck.


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